Gundam Wing: Altered Times
by Syrous
Summary: This story takes a different approach to GW fanfics, showing from the view of two OZ soldiers. In this altered timeline, OZ gets it own Gundams, and is now able to fight the Gundam pilots evenly.
1. Gundam Wing AT: Intros

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
This fanfic is based upon the Gundam Wing universe, except, this is an altered timeline. This takes place around the beginning of OZ, at the start of the show. In this timeline, rather than try to take the Gundams down with their conventional mobile suits, they take a new approach: building their own Gundams.  
  
There are no main characters in this fanfic (at least, none that are focused on more than others). I have added several characters of my own, but did not change any of the character from the show. I hope you enjoy.  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com.)  
  
  
  
Gundam Wing AT: The Guardian Kilroth  
  
"Moving in on attack approach vector. Alliance Aries in sight. Ready to attack on your orders!"  
  
Zechs sat motionless in the cockpit of the Tallgeese. He, along with 14 OZ Leo Mobile Suits, waited under camouflage nets in a patch of woods near the New Edwards Base for the Earth Sphere Alliance's MS forces to get within attack range. Normally OZ would not make this kind of strike, especially since OZ had only been around for several months. However, the Alliance had begun encroaching upon OZ territory more and more, probably for an attack. Lady Une decided that rather than waiting for the Alliance to attack them, they would attack first.  
  
Slowly the Aries suits began to fly one by one over the woods. Zechs was ready for them. "Now..."  
  
Every OZ Mobile Suit, including the Tallgeese, instantly stood to full height and began firing out upon the oncoming Aries units. The Aries that had flown by already had yet to realize what was happening. Once they did, however, they quickly spun around and opened fire on the Leo troops. The Tallgeese was taking down Aries with one-shot kills, while the Leo MS had formed a tightly-nit group and were firing rapidly in all directions, as not to get picked off one by one.  
  
Zechs was completely focused for this fight. Every shot hit, every hit destroyed a target. No wasted energy, at all. "Leo's 1 and 2, proceed to way-point alpha and hold position. Leo's 3 and 4, guard your current positions. Leo's 5 and 6, proceed to waypoint beta. Leo's 7 and 8, proceed to waypoint gamma. Leo's 9 and 10, proceed to waypoint epsilon. All remaining Mobile Suits, follow me."  
  
Each of the Leo MS went to where they had been ordered, and the Tallgeese, along with 4 Leo's, began a march towards the Alliance base of operations. Halfway there, however, they ran into an unexpected surprise.  
  
Multiple objects suddenly hit the Leo to the left of Zechs Tallgeese, causing it to fall backwards to the ground, where it exploded. The radar began to scream out with a wild array of beeps as the screen filled up with little red dots. The Leo suit to his right began firing blindly in the direction of the onslaught. Zechs aimed out towards what appeared to be movement ahead of him. He followed the object until he was sure he would hit, and then fired. There was a quick explosion as the object he hit was destroyed.  
  
"We're outnumbered!", one of the Leo pilots screamed out.  
  
"Fall back to the LZ (landing zone)!" Zechs ordered, as he continued to open fire upon the almost invisible forces. The Leo behind him then lost its leg in the fire, and became an open target. It was destroyed soon after. Then, the shooting stopped.  
  
"Hold your fire.", a strange voice exclaimed over the intercom. Most likely the commander of the enemy forces. The accent seemed somewhat Middle Eastern. Zechs waited to see what the reason was for the enemy to stop shooting. Then, his communication intercom filled with an unfamiliar voice. "Abandon your mobile suits and we'll spare your lives." The voice seemed to be that of a young boy, definitely not the same person that came over the first time. It sounded like the voice of a boy around 16, maybe 17 years old.  
  
"All Leo Mobile Suits, close in on this position and give backup fire. Leo number 13, retreat now! I'll cover you." However, it was too late. The Leo had already begun to fire at the enemy suits. Finally, Zechs could see the suits for himself. They were a type of Leo model. An older model painted with desert camouflage.  
  
Zechs also opened fire destroying 4 of the enemy suits. Then, from behind the Tallgeese, weapons fire came out hitting the other Mobile Suits. His backup had arrived. Unfortunately, however, he ran out of energy in his rifle. He then dropped the rifle and drew out his beam saber. The engines on the back of his MS opened up and propelled him forward, and with one quick slice, destroyed one of the lead Leo's. From behind him, there were 3 explosions: all from the same area, and on-after-the-other.  
  
"It's a Gundam! A Gundam is attacking us!" Zechs spun his MS around in time to see a Gundam model, wielding two crescent shaped blades. The smoke around it answered Zechs question of what happened to the 4 Leo Suits standing there. He quickly flew forward, towards the Gundam. The Gundam barely slipped out of the way, swinging it's blade and catching the Tallgeese on the left side of its torso.  
  
Then, from above, 5 carriers swooped over the area, dropping OZ Leo Mobile Suits as they went. The enemy Mobile Suits, including the Gundam, then began to back away, trying to make as safe a retreat as possible.  
  
"Permission to follow them, sir?", one of the OZ pilots asked.  
  
"No. Our mission is to relieve the area of Alliance forces, not to battle them. That Gundam could do considerable damage to our forces under these conditions. It would be far to dangerous to follow them now."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Slowly the enemy Suits moved out of sight and the shooting stopped.  
  
"What is the situation with the Alliance Mobile Suits?"  
  
"All Alliance Mobile Suits have abandoned their respective battle points and begun a full retreat."  
  
"Very good. Send 15 Leo Suits after them. The rest of you, return to base." Zechs wondered what a Gundam was doing here. Why would a Gundam group get into the middle of a battle between the Alliance and OZ. It made no sense at all.  
  
  
  
Duo waited patiently on the park bench for the engineer to arrive. Who would have thought that a Gundam as advanced as his, could go down because a simple core reactor power-cell burned out? Not only that, but had been waiting for this engineer to come and sell him this part for over two hours. Even the God of Death had bad days. However, always keeping to his never-quitting cheery disposition, he did not get angry.  
  
He had heard on the news that other Gundams had been attacking different OZ bases around the world. Heero Yuy. Yes, that was the name of the Gundam that destroyed the OZ plane carrying Field Martial Noventa. His death was the worst possible thing that could have happened to the colonies. Without him, there would be no one left on the Earth willing to make peace. Not only that, but the world and the colonies looked at the Gundam pilots as terrorists. Now, the people they came to fight for didn't even want them.  
  
Duo pounded his fist on the bench. "Damn! How could we let them use us like that?!" We had fallen into their trap. It was as simple as that. Everything was set up, from beginning to end. They had predicted our every move. Used us like puppets to turn the world on us. We were our own executioners. How could we..."  
  
Just then, a short man with slightly gray hair walked up and sat on opposite side of the bench from Duo. "You Duo Maxwell?"  
  
"Yeah, that's me. You're the one with the part, right?"  
  
"Yes, I am. Your lucky. Not too many parts like this left on Earth."  
  
Duo gave a confused look at the old man. "Why? Are they being destroyed or something?"  
  
"No. I shouldn't be telling you this, but... well, OZ had put out orders for these last week. Since there are no Mobile Suits that need something this powerful, no one makes them any more. So, once they're gone, they're gone."  
  
"What would OZ need these for?" Duo asked to no one in particular, motioning toward the box that the engineer was holding. "Wouldn't a power cell like that overload a conventional Mobile Suit?"  
  
"Yes, your quite right. Which is the confusing part. All I know is, the parts were sent to OZ's Lunar Base."  
  
The Lunar Base? What could be so secret that they would have to build it on the Lunar Base? "You know anything else about it?"  
  
"No, that's all I know"  
  
"Fine. Thanks." Duo sat thinking for a second then stood up and reached out to the old man. The man handed Duo the box. "You got the money, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Sure did. I deposited in the account you gave me."  
  
"Good.", replied the now very happy engineer. With that Duo nodded and then walked off carrying his box.  
  
So, there are three possibilities here. First: they know the Gundams use them and so they are trying to get them all so we can't have them. Second, and most likely: they already have a Mobile Suit that uses them and they want to make sure they never run out. Third, and least liked: they are planning on building a new type of Mobile Suit.  
  
After walking and thinking for almost an hour, he came to the conclusion that he had a new objective. He would go to the Lunar Base himself and find out what was happening.  
  
  
  
"Sir, here is the pilot roster you requested." the young private exclaimed as he handed Zechs the clipboard.  
  
Zechs held it up and started reading it. "Thanks." He continued to scan over the chart, reading name after name. "Twenty-four casualties. Not good. Send letters to each of the families with my sincerest condolences."  
  
The soldier let down a quick nod and replied with "Sir!". Zechs continued to pace around the room staring down at the roster. He stopped on one of the pilots. "Caper, Michael J. Private First Class. Kills: 41.", he read aloud. Zechs looked up from the paper and turned to the private in front of him. "This can't be right.", Zechs told him. "There is no way a private could have forty-one kills. Not on his first mission. Go to the hangers and report this to the head engineer. Have him double check this. Report to me when the results are in."  
  
Once again, the soldier let down with a quick nod. "Sir!". Zechs handed the roster to the soldier. "Dismissed", he said as he turned towards the window, putting his back to the soldier. The soldier then soluted and left.  
  
Who could those Mobile suits have been? Not only that, but why would they serve with a Gundam? It didn't make sense. The Gundams were from the colonies. So, why would a Gundam have that many mobile suits to back him up on earth? Had we missed some? But, so many. This means that either the leaders of the Gundams have some control on earth, or that Gundam pilot was originally from earth. This opens a whole new perspective on things. We had been underestimating their skills because we thought they were used to fighting in zero gravity only. But, if he is used to fighting in Earth's gravity as well, that would explain why OZ had been having so much trouble with them.  
  
Quatre sat in his tent, thinking to himself. Rashid came in, looking somewhat glum as well. Their encounter that morning had not turned out as well as they had hoped. The retreat had cost them many lives. Quatre hated for people to die, no matter what side they were on.  
  
"Master Quatre," Rashid began, "allow me to bring together a group and attack them again. They wouldn't expect another attack, now. Not so close to the place..." Quatre stopped him mid sentence.  
  
"No, Rashid. I think it would be best if we just waited. The other pilots will come soon, and then we will be able to fight. For now it would be best if we just waited until they arrive. I don't want any more unnecessary deaths. Understood?"  
  
Rashid let out a sigh. "Yes, Master Quatre."  
  
Quatre stared out towards the exit of the tent, and finally, after waiting for the appropriate time, got up and headed out. Quatre walked out towards the sand dune nearby. After climbing a little way carefully, so as not to fall, he reached the top and look out across the desert. He stood there for some time, watching and thinking.  
  
The soldier marched proudly back to Zechs' room. He stood at the door for some time, allowing the other soldiers to see who he was visiting. He felt as though he was the greatest there was, just for being Zechs' little worker. After waiting for what he felt to be a sufficient amount of time, he knocked on the door. After hearing an "Enter" come from inside the room, he opened the door and headed in closing it behind him.  
  
Zechs was working on some papers on the desk. The soldier came to attention in front of the desk. He slowly looked down at the papers, and noticed that they were shipping manifolds. Obviously parts for a large mobile suit. "What did you find" Zechs asked, snapping the soldier out of the daydream state.  
  
"Sir! I had the head engineer run a check on the Aries' black box. He confirmed the report. Not only that, but the MS didn't even have so much as a scratch on it."  
  
"I see. Where is this pilot located, now?"  
  
"He was ordered by Lady Une to report the Lunar Base tomorrow, sir. He should still be here.", the soldier replied.  
  
"Find him. I wish to speak with him. While you're at it, send in a request from me to Lady Une that this pilot be kept here. Tell her I will send someone else in this one's place."  
  
"Sir!", the soldier said with a solute. Slowly the soldier turned, and then marched out of the room. Zechs turned his chair and stood up. He slowly walked over to the window near the desk, and stared out from it.  
  
Michael Caper. A Canadian, born in Ottawa. His parents were killed in the last major war between the nations when he was only 7. He joined the military forces and started pretaining at age 9, and trained non-stop until he was 18, when he joined officially. His first mission was with me. Over forty kills. He's good. Very good. To make that kind of fight without being touched shows true skill.  
  
The new parts for the Gundams will be arriving soon. I need pilots. This soldier may well be just what I need.  
  
The soldiers walked down the corridor. The made a turn to the left at the end of the long hall just to find a stranger waiting for them. They barely had time to scream before they were knocked out.  
  
Duo searched through the pockets of the soldiers, hoping to find a key to one of the doors. After tracking down a level 4 keycard, he took the gun dropped by the soldier. He had planned on stealing one of their uniforms, but none of them were remotely close to his size. He decided that instead he would try to find some kind of locker room. He ran quite a distance, looking down corridors as he went, making sure he wasn't spotted. After traveling some distance, he came to a dead end. There was a door at the end of the hallway. Some kind of engineering bay, he guessed. He, however, would get far too much attention in his current outfit, so he continued on his search for a military uniform. After running a little farther down he found a room with an engineer in it. The engineer was the perfect size, and while it wasn't quite what he was planning on getting, it would do well enough. Duo sneaked into the room slowly, quickly got up behind the engineer, and slammed the butt of the gun into the man's neck. He drug the engineer into a closet nearby, put on the uniform over his own cloths, and left the gun with the body. He then proceeded out the door and down the hall to the bay he had found earlier.  
  
Duo slowly opened the door. Assuming his hair didn't give him away, he should be able to remain anonymous. These mechanic types sometimes let their hair go too, so he should be able to go without problem. He came up to the door quickly. The door slid open, allowing him to enter quickly. It was as he thought: a huge bay, and inside were two large construction areas. The areas were meant for two mobile suits, and they were partly done. The body had not been constructed yet. It was simply the internal areas that were ready to go.  
  
Duo walked cautiously among the engineers and soldiers. He walked over to a computer console to see what he could do there. He pulled up the blueprints for the models. He quickly began going over the specs, hoping to find some kind of weakness. He would destroy these things here, and save himself the trouble of dealing with them after they had been fully built. He saw that the core was near the cockpit, which meant that dropping a grenade in the cockpit would trigger the core to explode, eliminating the whole Suit.  
  
While Duo was poking at the computer, a soldier came up behind him. "You there, what are you doing? That's the design computer. Do you have access to use it?"  
  
Duo was not in the least bit expecting this kind of interruption. "Ah, well, you see...", he began as he turned around, "I was just looking at some of the...", and suddenly he threw his fist out at the soldier, connecting right in jaw. The soldier dropped to the ground quickly, unconscious. Duo looked down and the gun the soldier was carrying, and wondered whether he should take it or not. "Don't mind if I do", he said as he reached down and took it. The engineers began to scatter in all directions, and at some point one of the pulled an alarm switch, causing a siren to scream across the whole base.  
  
Duo looked frantically around the room, trying to find some means of destroying the suits. Then he noticed that at the top of the room was a hatchway which opened to the airlock leading into space. He could dump the remains out there once he destroyed them.  
  
He quickly ran to one of the armament sections and took some of the warheads. He then ran to both Suits, placing the warheads in each of the cockpits. Normally he would have brought his own explosives, but he was in a hurry today. After loading each of the Suit's cockpits with warheads, he ran to the other side of the room to where the warhead control switch was. He looked around the control panel, trying to find the proper switched. At that moment, the door opened and 4 soldiers ran in, each with machine guns. Duo jumped to the side as the opened up a hail of bullets towards him. He fired his own gun at them, causing the to scatter. One of the soldiers was hit dead on.  
  
Two of the soldiers tried to run on either side of his and attack him. He shot the one coming from his left, and then hit the other in the face with his elbow. He looked around and realized he had lost track of the fourth. He quickly moved back to the console, and began looking it over again.  
  
Suddenly, from above, the last soldier jumped down and planted his elbow right into Duo's back. Duo hit the control panel hard, damaging it, and dropped to the ground. He quickly got up, to find the soldier standing in front of him. Duo quickly jumped at the soldier and punched, yet the soldier's reaction speed was greater than he had ever seen before in a man. The soldier quickly stepped to the side and punched, landing his fist onto the side of Duo's face, sending him sprawling. Duo almost instantly jumped to his feet, spun and went again. He jumped for a punch, yet secretly threw in a kick. The soldier cought Duo's hand with ease, yet Duo could feel his leg make contact with the soldier. Duo's sense of victory, however, was short lived, as he realized that he had connected with the soldier's now raised leg, defending against Duo's kick.  
  
He had never seen anyone quite this fast before. No one in this soldier's rank should be this good. His speed was almost super-human. Through the corner of his eye he noticed a pipe wrench lying on the top of the console. Duo lunged out at the soldier with his left fist, and at the same time grabbed the pipe wrench with his right as he passed it. The soldier swiftly dodged the punch, with speed that even Duo could not match, however the speed was not enough to dodge the next attack, which he had stepped right into. The pipe wrench made a loud cracking noise on the soldier face as Duo continued forward, hitting the him as he ran. The soldier hit the ground.  
  
Duo got up and walked towards the control panel. As he passed by the soldier the man let out his foot, creaming Duo in the stomach. It was a quick, sharp hit, knocking him back. The soldier then jumped to his feet and turned to face Duo, and landed a second hit right into Duo's nose, knocking him to the ground. Duo tried to get up, but was too dizzy to move. He could hear the sound of the door opening, and soldiers running in. He found himself being picked up, and then taken out of the room by several soldiers.  
  
Michael Caper stood in the engineering bay, his cracked jaw bleeding rather badly through an open gash on his cheek. One of the soldiers ran up to him, and suggested that he go to the med-bay. He stayed a few more minutes to explain to the soldiers about the warheads that had been planted in the Neo-Gundam model's cockpits and how to disarm them.  
  
Once he was sure he would not be needed there anymore, he allowed one of the other soldiers to escort him to the med-bay. He walked into the bay, somewhat woozy at first. He was then taken by a nurse to one of the bed- tables nearby, and asked to sit down on it and wait for the doctor, who arrived soon after.  
  
"What happened to you?", the doctor asked as he looked at the side Michael's face. Michael, however, remained silent. "What base did you just transfer from? I need to get your medical records from them."  
  
"Ottawa, sir."  
  
"Oh, they stationed you in your hometown. I wish I could do that. I bet that made you happy."  
  
"Nah. Bad memories...". Michael stared out the window toward his left, looking out at the stars. "Anyways, I prefer the zero-gravity over Earth's gravity any day."  
  
The doctor continued typing away on the computer at his desk. "Kid, you got strange tastes." The doctor typed for a few more minutes. "Ah, here we go. Caper, Michael J. Age: 18. Height: 6'2". Weight: 195lbs. Eyes: Aqua blue." With that the doctor looked up at Michael. "Huh, so they are. Oh, anyways... Hair: Black. Rank: Private First Class. That you, kid?"  
  
"Yeah, that me." Michael looked somewhat distracted.  
  
A nurse came in from the room behind him. "Private Caper, if you will please follow me, I need to get a few x-rays."  
  
Michael quickly got a look of unease. "That, uh, won't be neccessary, really. It's fine."  
  
"Private Caper," the doctor said, "please understand that we must do this. Now, as your commanding officer, I order you to allow her to do those X-rays. I find it hard to believe that someone with your stamina would be afraid of a little X-ray. I promise, it won't hurt."  
  
With a slight look of irritation Michael stood up and proceeded out the door into a small room. A few short minutes after, another soldier came into the med-bay.  
  
"Excuse me, doctor. I am sorry to bother you, but do you have a Michael Caper in your care, right now?" the soldier asked quite politely.  
  
"Why, yes I do. He's in the back in the x-ray room. It will only take a few more minutes, then you can speak to him."  
  
"Oh, that won't be necessary. Could you please tell him that Colonel Zechs is waiting to meet with him in the Colonel's quarters, and to report there as soon as he is out."  
  
"I sure will.", the doctor said with nod.  
  
"Thank you." The soldier let out with one final solute before heading out the door. Several minutes later, the nurse, accompanied by Michael, came out into the room. The nurse was carrying several pictures with her.  
  
"Please take a seat right over there." the doctor said to Michael as he met with the nurse. Michael went and sat down on the table-bed once again. While the doctor was looking over the x-rays he said: "My goodness. You must drink a lot of milk there, kid. Not so much as a fracture. The worst you got out of that fight was that cut on your cheek."  
  
Michael reached up and touched the cut with his fingers. No, it wasn't bone strength at all. It was luck. I had managed to see wrench coming through the corner of my eye, and move away from it in order to dull the blow a bit. I should have paid more attention, then I wouldn't have been hit at all.  
  
"Wait a second...", the doctor said, looking suddenly quite shocked. "What's this? Some type of foreign object in the frontal cranial lobe and just above the spinal column. They look almost like mechanical devices. What are these?"  
  
Michael gave the doctor a sharp look. "Nothing you should concern yourself with... sir. Military matter."  
  
"I see. Well, if it has to do with the military then I guess I would be better off not knowing." Michael relaxed slightly. In all truth, that excuse shouldn't have worked, since it WAS the doctors concern. Luckily this doctor didn't seem to care much. "Well, kid, just make sure you take care of that cut and you'll be fine. The nurse will clean it up for you. Oh, and before you leave, a soldier came in and said to tell you to report to Colonel Zechs' quarters after leaving here."  
  
Michael nodded. The nurse came up with a small medical swab and began to wipe off the blood from around the wound. Why would the colonel want to see me?, he though to himself. Most likely about my confrontation with that intruder this morning. I wonder who that guy was. He was about my age, but he was amazingly strong. No one should have that sort of speed and strength.  
  
The nurse finished what she was doing and patted Michael on the shoulder. "All done. Make sure you keep it cleaned and you'll be fine." She moved to the side allowing him to stand up.  
  
"Thank you", he said as he got up and headed for the door. The door slid open, and he passed through, quickly taking a left once outside. There was a guard waiting for him there.  
  
"Private Caper?", the soldier asked.  
  
"Yeah. You the one who is supposed to take me to Colonel Zechs?"  
  
"Sure am. Follow me, please." The soldier turned and began walking down the corridor, Michael close behind. "They locked that boy you caught in the brig a few hours ago. They say he might be a Gundam pilot"  
  
Michael looked up quickly. A Gundam pilot? Here? How could he have found out about OZ's Neo-Gundam project? An even better question: if he knows, do the others know?  
  
The two made a sharp corner down the hall, and got into an elevator. The soldier pressed a button on the control panel, sending them down the shaft. Michael stood there, silently thinking to himself. I'll have to ask that boy some questions once I get a chance. "Have they questioned the boy, yet?" Perhaps I will let them ask for me.  
  
"Not yet. The interrogator hasn't arrived yet."  
  
Hmph. Interrogator! They might as well just be honest and call him a torturer. Only about a quarter of the people who are put before the "interrogator" actually come out alive, and that is just because they were ordered to keep them alive. In a way, I feel sorry for the boy.  
  
The turbo lift came to abrupt stop. The soldier continued out once the door slid open, and Michael continued after him. They continued down the hallways until they came to a set of doors. The soldier walked up to one of the doors and pressed on the buzzer next to it. A very familiar voice came over the intercom. "Enter". The soldier stepped one step closer, causing the door to slip open. The soldier then walked through the door, and into the room, with Michael following. Sitting on a couch in the room was a tall man, wearing a Red Military Jacket with long black boots and an oddly shaped metal helmet. At first glance one would think him to be a mental case, but his piloting skills and decisions on the battlefield told differently.  
  
Zechs stood up and turned toward the two. He nodded to the soldier, who immediately left the room. Michael stood in attention, looking past Zechs. "So, you're Michael Caper? Younger than I thought." He walked a few steps towards him, got a good look at him, then said "As you were." Michael relaxed somewhat, and whatched Zechs pace towards the window. "Do you think that boy is a Gundam pilot?"  
  
"His reflexes are far superior than those of any person I have seen before. He was quite strong, too. He also knew exactly where to put explosives to effectively blow up a mobile suit. I'd say there is a better chance that he is, than the chance of him not being one."  
  
Zechs nodded, and then changed the subject. "Your record in this last battle is incredible. I have to say that I am greatly impressed. How did you get to be so good?"  
  
"I trained non-stop through the past eleven years of my life, sir."  
  
"So I have seen. I have new orders for you. Lady Une decided against letting me keep you here. Instead, she has decided to use your age to our advantage. She wants you to keep an eye on the daughter of the former Vice Foreign Minister. You will attend school with her."  
  
"But sir, I've already..."  
  
"I'm quite aware of what you have done, private. However, you shall reattend school for now. You will be given you're own room at their dorm. There is a military base near where you will be at. If there is anything you need, report there. Understood?"  
  
"Yes sir. Understood."  
  
"Good. You will remain there until the new Gundam models are completed, then one of them will be sent to the base where you will be stationed. You will be the new pilot of that Gundam."  
  
Michael looked up with a look of shock. "Sir?"  
  
"I looked over your flight record. You aced all exit exams with perfect scores and accomodations. You came back from this last battle without a scratch and destroyed over forty enemy MS. You're skills definitly seem worthy to pilot one of the Gundams. You will be told the moment they arrive. Understood?"  
  
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."  
  
"Lastly, we think it would be best if you were to try to blend at the school, but we don't want you getting too close to anyone, so they won't find out who you are. I have assigned Emily McKeon to accompany you. She will assist you in keeping watch over the girl, and then will take over your position there, once the new gundam arrives."  
  
Michael looked somewhat uneasy at the thought of someone else tagging along. "So, what particular role will she play in relation to me?"  
  
Zechs smiled slightly. "I'll leave those details to you two. She is already at the school. She will meet you there. You will be allowed full access to her military records. She has also been given yours."  
  
Great, so this girl already knows everything about me, and we haven't even met. Aren't I lucky? "Thank you, sir." Of course, I just had to get a hard mission, didn't I? Heh. Sucks to be me.  
  
"One last thing: there have been reports of Gundam sightings near that area. Be ready at any time to be called back to the base to assist in defense, should it ever be attacked. Also, don't take any uniforms. I trust you have some civilian cloths?"  
  
"I've spent most my life on military bases, so I don't have many. Though, I can make do."  
  
"If you need any supplies, talk to the guard outside when you leave. He will get whatever you need. You'll leave tomorrow. Good luck. Dismissed." Zechs nodded to Michael, who gave one final salute and walked out of the room. Back to school, and right when I thought I was free of it. The soldier outside then began to walk to the elevator, and Michael followed. He would obviously be escorted to wherever he was supposed to be.  
  
I can't complain, I guess. I mean, I've seen pictures of this Relena Darlian. She lives up to the Darlian part. She's cute for sure.  
  
Michael let out a slight chuckle in spite of himself. He was forgetting that she was his target. He wasn't exactly watching her to make sure she wasn't hurt, he was watching her to make sure she couldn't hurt them. Ever since Lady Une's mistake of letting that girl see her kill the Vice Foreign Minister, everything about her became a threat. They were preparing to launch a military assault on the school she was in and then claim it to be a colonial terrorist assault, but then the neo-gundam project was started and Lady Une was recalled here to make sure the base was well defended.  
  
The lift stopped at the thirteenth floor. The soldier motioned for Michael to go ahead of him. Michael did so, and found the room filled with computers and such. "This is the main information terminal for the Lunar Base. You can get files from anywhere around the world, here. Each computer is attached to a computer system somewhere on the Earth Sphere.", the soldier said as he walked towards one of the consoles. "This is the one you'll be using. It has all the information you need."  
  
Michael walked up to the computer, thanked the soldier and sat down. The soldier then left the room and reboarded the elevator.  
  
Michael typed in Emily's name into the computer. It lagged slightly, which was to be expected since he was several million miles from the point of the information sending. Finally, after loading for almost a minute, the files were brought up. He opened up her personal file, in which he received quite a shock.  
  
"Oh my god, she's gorgeous.", he blurted accidentally, after which he looked around quickly in an embarrassed manner to make sure no one heard him. He crouched back down in front of the monitor and looked over all her information.  
  
Name: McKeon, Emily Sarah. Age: 19. Height: 5'9". Weight: 136 lbs.  
  
Eye color: Amber Hair color: Light Brown. Birth Place: Derry, Ireland.  
  
This girl is something else. Her military record is quite nice. In the past year she has had seven encounters with the Gundams. Everytime there is an assault predicted, she requests a transfer to that area. Yeah, I bet she will be real happy stuck with me baby sitting Relena in some remote school. She has taken quite a few hand-to-hand combat courses. She knows how to fight, that's for sure. This is definitely going to be interesting. She's cute, but her record makes her out to be one tough girl to hang with.  
  
Michael poked through her files for a few more minutes, making sure to learn all he could about her, especially since she probably did the same with him. Once he finished reviewing her files, he switch off the monitor and headed off to the elevator.  
  
Heero laid on his bed staring at ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come. He laid there, sprawled out across the bed with arms out in both directions and legs off the end so his feet were on the floor allowing him perfect reaction movement, staring and waiting for the next mission. It had been a while since he got a mission. Ever since that day...  
  
Word had spread about the death of Field Martial Noventa and the others. The Alliance was calling the Gundams terrorists, the colonies were on the verge of forsaking them, and worst of all, OZ was becoming a major government, all thanks to his actions. They used him. Led him right into a trap. "What...have I done...?" was all he could mutter. There was quite a bit of movement outside the door of his dorm room. This movement did nothing to calm his tension.  
  
His decision to return to school was not spontaneous. He had planned on transferring schools, and in essence, did so. But, after the rumor of the Neo-Gundams came through, he decided it best to return to the school where Relena was. Her school was near a secret OZ construction factory. Supposedly no one knew about it, but it didn't take Heero long to figure it out. There would be a good chance one of the Gundams might be built there.  
  
The noise outside his room began to fade off, and suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door. This surprise, of course, threw Heero clear out of bed and into a "kill everything around me" mode. Once he had calmed himself, he went to the door, still overly cautious. He slipped up to the door, making little to no sound so someone wouldn't be able to find him by his footsteps and shoot him through the door. He leaned up against the door and looked through the eye-hole. It was that girl. Darlian's daughter. Ever since she had seen him that day, she had returned to him over and over again. She acted as if she had a deathwish. At times, her actions surprised and even startled him.  
  
Heero walked away from the door, deciding not to answer, but somehow knew that not giving her a warm welcome would in no way stop her from entering his room. He was, of course, correct in that. She opened the door immediately after and closed it behind her. Heero continued about his business, working pointlessly on the computer in front of him, just trying to look busy so she would go away.  
  
"So many times you could have killed me, but you haven't, Heero. Why?", Relena asked, still standing in the middle of the room in her normal school uniform. Heero sat silently, asking himself the same question over and over again. Why didn't he kill her? She knows far too much. She even knows about Dr. J. "Heero, please, I... don't care if you want to kill me. In a way... I want to die. But I need to know, why did you let me live? Even when I know so much."  
  
Heero stood up from his chair and turned towards her, startling her greatly. He walked up to her and then past her, and opened the door. "I don't know why." was all he said to her as he headed out the door, leaving it open.  
  
Relena stood in the room, staring out where Heero had just past. "Oh, Heero..." She knew she was starting to fall in love with him, but he was too mysterious for her to be sure how he felt. This, however, was more than enough to tell her he felt the same, even if he didn't know it. However, even knowing this, she would like to, at least once, hear him say it.  
  
The shuttle came to an abrupt landing at the spacepod dock. Michael stared out the window with a glazed look in his eye. He had been through hundreds of training courses, passed everything with perfect scores, but one: space reentry. Why had he failed it so many times? It was due to the fact that every single landing, he would short out the console because he puked on it. Space sickness was nothing to him, but switching from zero G to Earth's gravity was no fun matter. He was proud of himself this time, for he had not puked. Perhaps he was getting over his weak-stomach problems.  
  
He got up with great care, and headed for the exit. He would receive his bags at the dorm of the school. He walked in and looked about the spaceport. Travelers walked about the building. He began looking for the person who would be meeting him. Miss Emily McKeon. She wasn't here, which suprised him greatly. He continued to walk through the airport until he got to the spot where his bags would arrive. He patiently waited, expecting the bags at any moment. Once the bags arrived, he quickly grabbed them and made his way to the door. People were running all over the airport, so it was very difficult for him to get out of there. Once he got to the door and made it through, he immediately waved down a cab, and asked the driver to take him to the school.  
  
This place doesn't seem so bad. I mean, it's lively enough. That's part of the problem though, I guess. There is no overpopulation on the colonies. Never have to deal with crowds like that.  
  
The cab pulled up to a large building, almost resembling a mansion. There was a patio with tables covered by umbrellas outside. There were kids everywhere, all in very odd looking uniforms. Michael looked out across the group, in awe at all the people there. He stepped out of the car and went to the back for his bags. He had decided to wear casual clothes upon arrival, rather than the school uniform. He wore all black, looking almost in a gothic theme. A black T-shirt, black jeans, black shoes, black sunglasses, and even black gloves. He was never good with colors, so he decided to avoid them all together. Anyways, he didn't wear casual clothes much, so it really didn't matter. This made him feel like he was still in a uniform, which in a way was more comfortable to him, speaking that all he really knew was the military.  
  
Once he had gotten his bags and paid the driver, he headed for the entrance. Waiting there, was one of the students. A young girl with light blond hair. He immediately recognized her.  
  
It's her. The Darlain girl. She's a lot cuter than the picture gave her credit for. He slowly walked up to where she was standing, and set his bags down.  
  
Relena slowly approached him, smiling the whole way. Once she was within a proper distance, she curtseyed to him. "My name is Relena Darlain. I would like to be the first to welcome you to our school.", she said, with a degree of calmness, elegance, and innocence that almost frightened him.  
  
"Ah, thank you very much.", he said, trying to mimic the almost perfect stance she held. "My name is Michael Caper.", he let out as he bowed. After completing the bow, he straightened himself and looked around. He could sense most of the students looking at him from all over. Nothing to worry about. I'm the new kid here, that's all it is. He looked at all points on the school, getting a mental map of it. As he looked, however, he came to one window in the dorm section. In the window was a boy, around Michael's age, staring out at him. The boy wore a green tank top with shorts. He had a horribly serious look on his face. What's with him?, Michael thought to himself. That look in his eye is... almost frightening. Could he suspect who I am? No, that's impossible. My arrival here is no different than the arrival of anyone else. I'm only 18, so there is no way he would consider me to...  
  
Suddenly, the sound of Relena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "...need anything at all, please tell me.", she said to him, as a sign of departure.  
  
"Ah...uh, oh yeah, sure. Thanks.", he stumbled out, as he tried to regain his thought. Once again he looked up to the window, yet the boy was gone. "Excuse me, but, before you leave..."  
  
Relena turned around and looked at Michael. "Yes?" She noticed he was looking up towards the dorm rooms.  
  
"Who's room is that? Right up there, near the statue."  
  
Relena looked up to where he was pointing, and after a few seconds, finally came to the place he was pointing at. "Oh, why, that's Heero Yuy's room."  
  
Michael suddenly took a look of shock as he turned back to her. "Did you say Heero Yuy? Oh, you mean that the room is named after Heero Yuy, right?  
  
"Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean. No, I mean that it is Heero's room. Heero stays there."  
  
"Look miss, Heero Yuy was the grand leader of all the colonies. He was assassinated twenty years ago. There is no way Heero Yuy could be upstairs in your dorm room.  
  
Relena then remembered what Dr. J had told her, about Heero being his codename and why he was named it. "Oh, you see," she began, trying to think of something to cover it up, "his parents were great supporters of Heero Yuy, so they named their first child after him."  
  
"I see..." Sounds like colonial fanatics to me. How interesting that this boy should be named Heero Yuy. Might want to watch him. Children of colonial fanatics often turn out to be terrorists or worse, and if there is anyone here I would suspect of being a terrorist, it would be him. That look in his eye...  
  
"Is that all you needed?", Relena asked, once again ever-so-politely.  
  
"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you." Once again Michael bowed. "It was nice to meet you."  
  
Relena turned and walked off, her group of friends following close behind. He picked up his bags and began walking into the building. Once inside, he removed his sunglasses and reported to the main office. The principle greeted him in the doorway.  
  
"Ah, you must be the young Michael Caper. It's nice to meet you. It isn't often we get someone of your age in for high school. Normally student have graduated by your age.", the principle said, obviously suspecting Michael of having failed at some point.  
  
Doesn't surprise me. I am almost too old all together for this assignment. It's close to being embarrassing. "I started school late, I'm afraid."  
  
"Ah, yes, I understand. All right, let me see here...", he said as he flipped through a group of papers, "Aha, here we go. You are in room 218. Jennifer!" Suddenly a young girl poked her head around the corner looking into the office. "Ah, good. Would you mind showing this boy where room 218 is?"  
  
"Why, not at all!", the girl replied, quite cheery. Such a happy school this is. How weird. So different from life in military camps.  
  
"You'll begin classes tomorrow. Good luck.", the principle said, sitting back down.  
  
"Thank you, sir." He quickly turned and walked back outside, took his bags, and followed the girl.  
  
Jennifer walked up many stairs until she finally got to the 200s section. She began looking around for the proper number. Suddenly, from behind them, a female voice said "Hey Jenny, don't worry about him. I'll help him. The horse riding class is about to start, and you'll be late if you stay here."  
  
Both Jennifer and Michael turned and looked to see who said it. "Oh, ok. Thanks, Emily! He's looking for room 218!"  
  
"Alright, not a problem.", Emily said. Jennifer ran off in a hurry.  
  
Michael look at Emily for a second, making sure she was the one. Yep, thats her. Well, took her look enough. "You're room is right down the hall.", she declared as she headed down the hall, with a very wide, very happy stride. Her cheeriness threw him completely off guard. She's nothing like I expected. I mean, to have a record like that, but to be this... spunky. There's no way.  
  
He followed her to room 218, where he pulled out the key he had been issued and opened up the door. He walked in, followed closely by Emily, who shut the door behind them. Michael walked up and put his bags down on the bed. "I thought you were supposed to meet me at the airport.", he said as he put his bags down.  
  
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too!", she said in a tone overflowing with sarcasm. "As it so happens, I was on my way to leave for the airport, when I heard a news report that a suspected Gundam pilot had escaped from the Lunar base this morning.  
  
Michael froze after hearing this. He escaped. There is a chance he might know of my plans, since he was on the Lunar base at the time. I'll need to be careful. I bet they didn't even get a chance to question him.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You were the one who caught him, so I bet that doesn't make you too happy. Sorry about that." She walked up and looked at his cheek where the cut was. She lightly reached up and touched above it, examining it. Michael tried his best not to spaz out from the stinging, and by some miracle managed to keep himself posed and continued about his business as if he didn't even notice it. "Wow. That's a nasty little cut. He got you pretty good, didn't he?"  
  
"Yeah, it hurt little", understating it greatly. "I guess I deserved it, though. Should have seen him coming at me with that wrench. Doesn't matter, though. I'm just glad I got the first hit."  
  
"Yeah, I heard he was pretty strong. He knocked out thirteen of our troops while escaping, and he was unarmed. You did very to take him on your own."  
  
"Nah, I just got the first hit, that's all. He was too messed up from that hit to fight back."  
  
Emily looked at him for a second, trying to decide what to make of him. She couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth, being modest, or trying to hold something back. She had been told he often held back many secrets. "Well, anyways,", she said, trying to move the subject toward something less frustrating, "we need to begin watching Relena."  
  
"Have you made contact with her yet?", Michael asked, hoping that she would say yes.  
  
"Yes, I have. As a matter of fact, we have become good friends."  
  
Michael let out a sigh of relief. This meant that Emily could watch Relena and Michael would be able to back her up from afar. He just couldn't see himself trying to get a date with the daughter of the former Vice foreign minister, just so he could watch her."Seems like you really thought ahead, huh?"  
  
"Yep!", she said happily. "I figured you would have a hard time getting close, so it'd be better if I did it!" She continued to smile.  
  
She has a beautiful smile. A little spunky, but that's ok. We need someone like that on this mission. She'll fit in more. "Yeah, you figured it right. Heheh, I can just see myself trying to get a date with Darlains daughter. You know Colonel Treize would just love that."  
  
Emily laughed. "He would probably pull you out thinking you to be some kind of skirtchaser who could care less about the mission."  
  
Michael let out with what sounded to be an "ACK!", which caused Emily to laugh more. A beautiful laugh, too. Yeah, I think I can handle working with her for a while.  
  
Emily stopped laughing long enough to notice Michael looking at her. "What is it?", she asked curiously.  
  
Michael immediately snapped out of it. "You just look so different in that school dress, compared to the picture I saw of you in the military uniform.", he lied.  
  
"Oh, well, I kinda like it.", she said as she spun around, showing it off. "It's not the same as wearing the military uniform, but it has a certain amount of class about it. What do you think of it? Be honest."  
  
"I think you look cute in it." The words came out faster than the realization of what he was saying did. Once her eyes widened he figured it out. Woops. Did I say that? Um... uh-oh?  
  
Emily stared at him in a amazement. She had been told he was really closed off from everyone else. Never talked to anyone after his parents died, but then he said that. This completely through her off guard. Then she saw it. He was blushing, and that was when it hit her. He didn't mean to say it. She decided rather than to change the subject, she would embarrass him even more. Might as well get him used to not being in a military institution. "You really think I'm cute?!", she asked with feigned surprise. "Wow, I've never had anyone say something like that to me!", she said, lying with every breath, and as she expected, it was working. He was completely red with embarrassment.  
  
I had always been told to watch my mouth. "It'll get you in trouble one day. You'll see." That's what they said, but I didn't believe em. I do now. "Um, anyways, uh... I think we should just... uh, go watch Miss Darlian. You do that and, uh..." Right as he was about to finish, he made the mistake of looking over at her. She was staring at him with a look amusement. She is so beautiful... she... Then it hit him. She's making fun of me!!! "HEY! NO FAIR! You knew I didn't mean to say that!!"  
  
Emily burst out laughing. She wondered how long it would take him to figure it out. She continued to laugh, wiping tears away. "I'm... heheh, I'm sorry. You just walked into that one." She continued giggling.  
  
This is going to be one hell of a long mission. "Argh, forget it! Just go watch the Darlian girl!", he said, completely frustrated.  
  
Emily continued laughing and patted him on the shoulder as she turned to walk out. "Oh, by the way, if you plan on making it anywhere around here, I suggest you learn how to see if someone is making fun of you." Michael simply grumbled.  
  
Emily closed the door behind her, leaving Michael standing in his room, frustrated beyond belief. I probably have more to fear from her than I do those Gundam pilots.  
  
He walked slowly over to the window, looking across to admire the view of the huge courtyard and relieve some of the recently applied stress. The horse riding classes had already begun, and Jenny was out there giving it her all. He watched them ride back and forth. A collage of elegance, grace, and clumsiness. Most of the girls had seemed to pick up on riding quickly, but the guys were a different matter. Among all of the student was Relena. He watched her ride throughout the area, admiring her gracefulness. She seems to be good at everything she does. It's a pity she's against us. I'm sure she could make a difference somewhere in the world, if she just put her mind to it.  
  
As he watched her ride, he noticed something else move in the distance beyond the class. he looked up across the field, into an open area. A horse was running at full speed there, the rider acting as if it were nothing at all. "Heero...", Michael said, realizing who it was. He rides as if it is more for work that pleasure. He's training it, I guess. As he continued to watch, Heero brought the horse to a stop. Michael looked on with curiosity. Suddenly, Heero turned and looked towards the building, straight to where Michael was. The two stared at each other for some time, before Relena called out to Heero, snapping his attention away from Michael. This also broke Michael's train of though, so he quickly closed the blinds and walked to the other side of the room.  
  
That boy had a seriousness about him not at all common to your average highschool student. He may well be a Colonial terrorist. The only reason one would be here would be to snatch Relena, so that they could blame it on us. I better watch him.  
  
Michael continued to unpack, thinking about how he should attempt to fit in. He put all his cloths in the closet, and found that his room had many uniforms placed in it. Well, at least they thought ahead. He slowly pulled out one of the uniforms, looking at it closely. Well, at least it isn't very colorful. I won't feel too out of place in it.  
  
He continued to unpack his belongings, thinking out plans for the days ahead, and trying to figure out where the Gundam pilot that escaped might be headed. 


	2. Gundam Wing AT: The Light of Life

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
There have been several changes so to the Gundam Wing Timeline so far in this series. First off is the introduction of Emily and Michael. By way of events, Duo being captured and Lady Une not attacking the school, after which Heero leaves.  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
  
  
Gundam Wing AT: Life's Cold Light  
  
The temperature was quite hot, compared to the way Ottawa normally feels. It had almost hit 100 that day, making everyone terribly uncomfortable. This, however, did not at all affect little Michael. He continued to jump and play with the toy planes he had gotten for his 7th birthday as if nothing else in the world mattered. His mother walked around the house, fixing this and cleaning that, trying to make sure everything was perfect for her husband's arrival.  
  
"Come here, Michael," she said, in her strong North American accent; New England, to be precise. Michael dropped his toys and ran to his mother, getting caught almost instantly in a hug. She set him down in front of her and began fiddling with his collar, which he obviously hated, being used to wearing T-shirts and shorts. "I know your uncomfortable, but don't you want to make a good impression for your father?", she asked him as she finished fixing his collar.  
  
"I know, but it's so hot!", he complained.  
  
"Well, if you would quit running around like a wild animal it wouldn't be, now would it?", she asked, making him drop his head in almost instant defeat. "Look,", she said, raising his head slightly to look up, "once your father gets here you can change into whatever you want. You know, he told me he brought you back something. He said something about a model jet from England...", she let it trail there.  
  
Michael's eyes lit up almost instantly. "Wow! Really? YAY! I can't wait!!" He began bouncing around like a fiend with joy.  
  
Julia Caper stood up, watching her son bounce around. "Now you try to act suprised when he gives it to you, ok?" He nodded with a quick MMM-HMM!. "Good. Now, lets go to the airport." With that she walked over to the table and got her purse, keys, and sunglasses, along with Michael's favorite sunglasses as well. She headed to the door, at which point she was intercepted and almost tripped by Michael who zipped to, opened, and flew out the door. Once she had closed and locked everything up she got into the car, where she found Michael sitting, seat-belt on, bouncing, and all around ready to go. Julia grinned at her son's eagerness. He had been looking forward to seeing his father for a long time. He would finally get a chance to spend time with him.  
  
Julia's husband, Micah, had joined the military several years before. He had been assigned to guard one of the Northwest Multi-national Alliance's newest projects: the creation of building sized humanion shaped tanks called Mobile Suits. He had said many times that it would revolutionize war. That the nations that held the technology would be able to rule the world. He was one of the security guards for the world's first MS: The Tallgeese.  
  
They arrived at the airport with some time to spare. As they got out of the car on the 3rd level of the parking-deck, Julia could hear the sound of footsteps running towards her. She looked back in time to see several soldiers, obviously not with her country, running towards her. She looked across the top of the car and screamed "Michael! Get back in the car! Now!". Both of them jumped in, and instantly she started the car. She reversed out, causing soldiers to scatter, however, one of the soldiers on the passenger side smashed in the window and grabbed Michael by the collar, pulling him out of the car. Julia slammed on the brakes, not at all prepared to desert her son into the hands of enemy soldiers. She slowly put the car into park and got out of the car.  
  
"Take her into the building! The boy, too!", one of the soldiers yelled out. Both were taken in where they found themselves amongst the other passengers. They sat in the airport for several hours, until finally they were hearded off towards the exit, where buses were waiting for them. From a distance Julia could see the soldiers for her country being loaded into buses from another exit.  
  
"Where are you taking us?!" one of the passengers demanded. The question was simply ignored, and the passenger pushed into a bus. Michael clung to his mother, obviously scared beyond belief, watching the whole affair. They managed to get seats right next to each other. The bus took off in a rough start, following a long line of other buses, heading to some unknown location.  
  
The ride that followed seemed to Michael to take forever. His mother spent the whole trip trying to console him as he cried uncontrollably. Eventually, the tears stopped. Julia didn't know whether it was from exhaustion, dehydration, or if he had just calmed down. The bus pulled into some form of a military camp, along with the others from the airport. All around the base North European soldiers marched.  
  
The buses came to an abrupt halt and soldiers began to run towards them, yelling in orders for passengers to come out. All the passengers did so, and as they did they were ordered to move out of the way and lay face down on the ground, hands on their heads. It became obvious to Julia from the amount of people there that Ottawa had become officially occupied. She and Michael left the bus, and immediatly she laid on the ground, but Michael was more than reluctant to do so. He continued to pitch more of a fit. Julia sat up and tried to coax him into laying down, while the soldier screamed out orders and threats if he didn't quit yelling. Michael continued pointing in one direction, and finally Julia figured out what he saw. It was Micah. He, too, was creating quite a comotion over his family being treated that way. Eventually he struggled free from the soldiers and took off on a run to his family. Half-way there, however, the air filled with the sound of guns going off, and he was struck by a hail of bullets, blowing him to ground, dead before impact.  
  
Michael and Julia both let out with screams as they watched him hit the ground. Michael began fighting with all his strength, and grabbed the barrel of one of the guns, trying to get it from the soldier who had fired on his father. Before he could move, the butt of a gun hit him the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. He felt somewhat dazed, and could see his mother jumping up to run to him. Just before she got to him, however, parts of her shoulder burst open as bullets carreened into her from behind. Eventually the same happened throughout her chest and stomach, dropping her to the ground.  
  
Michael sat up on his knees, in complete shock, yet unable to cry, staring at his mother. Instantly he felt a rage that he had never felt before. He jumped up and ran at the soldier, screaming. Halfway there, however, he was kicked, knocking him to the ground. One of the soldiers lifted him up by the neck, and slammed his back up against side of the bus. "I've had enough of this boy!" the soldier screamed, as he pulled the pistol from the pouch on his waist and posted the barrel into the boys mouth. "Die!"  
  
Within almost a blur a hand pulled back the gun away from Michael's mouth. It was another soldier. However, this soldier was not strong enough and lost his grip. The man with the pistol took aim and shot, hitting Michael directly in the throat. There was a slight shock of pain and then everything went numb from his neck down. Finally, the gun was placed to his head, there was a load noise, and darkness...  
  
Michael awoke in a start. The bus was still riding at it's normal, dreadfully slow pace. He was covered from head to tow in sweat. From beside him he could feel someone staring at him. He looked over to see Emily staring with a worried look. "You ok? Looks like you had a bad dream."  
  
"Yeah.", Michael said, still a little shaken. "It's probably because of the bus."  
  
"Don't like buses?", she asked, slightly curious.  
  
"Yeah. Bad memories..."  
  
Emily watched him as he looked past her out the window, an almost hurt expression on his face. She too looked out the window, and could see the military base coming up. "Ah, well, looks like you woke up right in time!", she said, making sure she had everything with her.  
  
Michael simply nodded in response. 11 years and I still haven't outrun that terrible dream.  
  
The bus came to an abrupt stop outside the gate of the base, allowing Emily and Michael to pick up and leave. Emily waved happily to the driver as he shut the door and drove off, while Michael made his way toward the base gates, not making any effort to wait for her. She turned and began to run, attemting to catch up with him. Once she caught up with him she matched his speed, keeping his steady stride. She looked over him as they walked, and noticed he had a very solemn look on his face. "Are you sure your ok?", she asked, concerned.  
  
"I said I'm fine. Now, drop it.", he replied, shortly.  
  
"You don't have to get so cross, you know.", she said, getting somewhat upset. She hated it when people got rude just because she was worried about them.  
  
The two of them continued to walk toward the gate, Emily looking around happily. She had decided to wear casual cloths instead of her school uniform. She decided to go for something simple: tank top, short shorts and sneakers. Michael, of course, was in the same drab, styleless, colorless get-up that he seemed to love. Just looking at his clothes disgusted her. She would have to help him out by way of style. She'd get him into something red if it was the last thing she ever did.  
  
The guard at the front gate greeted them, and allowed them in. They continued on to meet their commanding officer before getting comfortable in their new "home".  
  
For Duo the flight to Earth was quite long. Because he was in such a hurry to get out of the Lunar Base, he did not have time to find a shuttle of his own to pick up Deathscythe with, which meant it was out there, somewhere, freefloating in space.  
  
The shuttle landed roughly on the landing-pod. Duo got out and headed for the exit, and out into the airport. On the flight he had used the shuttles onboard computer terminal to hack into Heero's school computer and put his name on the roster. If anyone could help him get his Gundam back, it would be Heero.  
  
The bus drove off, leaving Michael and Emily back at their school. The meeting had gone well enough. The commander thought that sending in two "kids" to pilot mobile suits was a joke, and generally was quite rude. Michael was in no mood to try to deal with that, so he dismissed himself quickly. Also, they found out that they would not be funded money while they were here. Their schooling would be paid for, but the rest was up to them.  
  
"We have to jobs?! This sucks.", Michael said, very unhappy with the whole ordeal.  
  
"I know. I know, but we have to. You know that. What, would you rather have no money at all?" Michael simply grunted in response, which clearly meant that he understood that he would have to find a job. They arrived at the school late in the afternoon, and then realized that they had not even eaten lunch yet. "Hey Michael, lets go get something to eat! Come on!", she said, trying to drag him off to the foor court.  
  
Michael could hear everyone around talking about him as he walked to the food court. He soon realized the picture they made: her dragging him by the arm all over the school, him smiling somewhat happily. What they didn't know is that she was dragging him because he didn't want to go and he was smiling because he was tired of scowling.  
  
The two sat comfortably at the table and began eating, when he saw Heero walking past the area, staring at him. Michael stood up and walked to throw away the rest of his food, ignoring the loud protests coming from a now suprised Emily. He walked over behind the building, to where Heero had gone. Heero was standing on a large veranda, overlooking the school campus. Michael walked up and perched his arms on the railing, looking out. Heero sat with his back to the railing, eyes closed facing the building.  
  
"Heero Yuy. Quite a name you have there.", Michael said suspiciously.  
  
"Your an OZ soldier." was the only reply from Heero that he got.  
  
Michael sat there, eyes wide. How has he figured me out? It has only been 2 days. There is no possible way. "What makes you think that?"  
  
"Lunar Base transport records showed a Michael Caper leaving for Earth 2 days ago."  
  
He has access to our transport records?! "Who are you? Really?"  
  
"I will kill you before you can complete your mission."  
  
"You don't even know what my mission is."  
  
"It is of no relevance now."  
  
"I see." He sat there for several moments, when suddenly he saw the boys hand reach up under the back of his shirt, most likely for a gun. Michael was more than prepared for this, and the second the gun was pulled, Michael was moving to hit it. Heero looked quite suprised at Michael's speed, but decided to finish the job. He quickly punched with the other hand, aiming for Michael's face. Michael ducked quickly, barely escaping the swing. God, he is fast! Michael quickly raised up, and punched upward as he went, going for one swift punch in the jaw. Heero quickly stepped back, and planted a swift kick into Michael's side. Michael could feel several ribs crack with the blow. He's almost superhumanly strong! He stronger by far than the boy in the Lunar base. Michael swung with full speed and strength, catching Heero off guard. He tried to move in vain, for the punch landed directly in his face, sending him flying back through the air and crashing to the ground on the other side of the balcony.  
  
Heero looked up at his opponent, in complete awe at the speed and strength this boy had just shown. He jumped to his feet, trying to think of a strategy to beat this person. He took off on a dead run across the balcony towards the boy.  
  
Michael watched as Heero ran towards him quick. He barely had enough time to react, yet he managed. Instantly he spun around, kicking at where Heero was. However, he soon realized the person he was kicking at was no longer there. Michael could feel something behind him, as if it were a ringing in his ears coming from right behind his back. He spun to find Heero standing on the balcony railing behind him. Heero had been standing there waiting for Michael to look, and once he did, Heero let out with one switch kick, creaming Michael in the face, and sending him staggering back.  
  
Michael staggered backwards, feeling undescribable pain. His lip had busted, that much he knew. This kid is way too strong. If I'm not careful, he'll kill me with his bare hands.  
  
Before Michael could completely regain his composure, he noticed that Heero had jumped off the railing and was running towards him again. Before he could react, a fist landed in his stomach, almost knocking him clean out. He then felt a second blow, this time to his head, send him shoulder first into the side of the building. He began to here a comotion building as students gathered around to watch the fight. He managed to shake off the pain and refocus, instantly dodging a punch that should have landed on his face. He launched his right hand in the open area that Heero had left and hit Heero right in the nose. He then swung with his left fist and caught the side of Heero's head.  
  
Michael went for a finishing haymaker, but then Heero dropped to one leg and kicked Michael in the stomach with the other, knocking him against the wall completely out of breath. He started to run for one more punch when in a flash Emily had set herself between the two of them, holding Michael back. Several students came to hold back Heero, which was a difficult task for all of them. Emily dragged Michael off the balchony and into the building, while Relena ran out to Heero, attempting to calm him down.  
  
"What do you think you were doing out there?!" Emily shouted at Michael as they walked back to his room. "Do you have any idea what kind of predicament we would have been in if you actually hurt that boy? You would be kicked out of the school!" She opened the door to his room, let him in, then closed it, and then coaxed him over to sit on the chair in the corner of the room.  
  
"That would never happen. I wouldn't have been able to hurt that kid. Not badly."  
  
"What do you mean you couldn't? Your a trained military soldier! Your more than capable of doing serious damage to anyone here!"  
  
"The problem is, he's trained, too. Not only that, but he knows who I am.", Michael said, with a mixed calm/nervous tone.  
  
"What do you mean he knows who you are?"  
  
"He knows that I am an OZ soldier. He might even know about the mission. We have a leak somewhere in OZ."  
  
Emily stood quietly in the room, thinking about that. "This... could be bad. You said he was trained too, right? But still, they recorded some of your abilities as almost super-human. You could have won, right?"  
  
"No." The answer came out almost instantly, startling Emily greatly at the finality in his voice.  
  
Emily began to look around for the first aid kit once she finished realing what was going on. "So, you suspect him of being a soldier?" She found the kit and walked over to Michael, knelt down beside him, and began inspecting his wounds.  
  
"Yes. His every move reaks of a trained mobile suit pilot. Not only is he trained, but he is very strong and fast too. Faster than I am, and faster than any other person could hope to be."  
  
Emily sat quietly, tending slowly with the pads to the cuts on Michael's face. "So, how is it YOU are so strong?"  
  
Michael sat for several moments before speaking. "I prefer not to talk about it."  
  
"You know, you should tell me more instead of keeping secrets. If we are going to work together, we should at least trust each other a little."  
  
"This has nothing to do with trust. I just don't like talking about it. That's all."  
  
"Fine. Whatever you say." They sat quietly for several minutes until Emily finished up, in which she patted him on the shoulder, said a quick good-bye, and left.  
  
It had been almost an hour since Emily had arrived at the military base. She stood in a small waiting room, expecting someone to help her eventually. Finally, a soldier came out. "This way, please." He turned and walked out the door, her close behind. They came to the commanding officers room, where she was allowed to sit and wait for the Sergeant to return. Eventually, he did.  
  
"Ah, little miss Mckeon. How nice of you to drop by. What can I do for you?"  
  
"I'd like access to all your files on the soldier Michael Caper. I am authorized to see them by Lieutenant Colonel Zechs Merquise."  
  
"I see. Any reasons why?"  
  
"That is not your concern. I would just like to see them, please." she said, trying to remain as serious as possible. She didn't like this Sergeant too much.  
  
The sergeant motioned towards the door. "The guard will take you to our facilities and show you everything you need to know." With that, she picked up and followed the soldier.  
  
The two arrived at the library area several minutes later, and the soldier parked himself in front of a terminal, and awaited instructions.  
  
"I would like to see all files, medical and personal, on Michael Caper." The soldier began typing on the computer and suddenly many windows begam to appear with information on Caper.  
  
She read over all the files one by one, looking for anything that he might be hiding. "I just don't understand. There is nothing listed here that would explain his speed."  
  
"Um, mam?" the soldier said, somewhat nervous.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"There is a 2 year period from when he was 7 to 9 years old that we have no records of him at all in."  
  
Emily continued to stare at the screen. "I see, but what could have happened in that time that would increase his strength like that. Can we access medical files here?"  
  
"No mam. You can only do that in the base med-bays, and those are off- limits right now do to security checks."  
  
"I see...damn. Alright. I'll see what I can do later. Thank you for your help." With that, she left the room, with more questions in her head.  
  
Michael lay in bed, wondering what that boy might be. He was so fast. I don't see how it is even possible. He is well trained for a colonial terrorist. He may well be much more.  
  
He laid there for several minutes, waiting for sleep to come, but it refused. Not matter how much he thought he could not think of any reasons. Suddenly, his train of thought was broken by the sound of people moving. He heard people talking about a new student outside his door.  
  
Great. Another kid. That's all we need. With that Michael got up and walked over to the window to see what was going on. Then he saw the kid. He quit moving, breathing, even thinking, for the short time that he saw the boy. I..its him. It's the Gundam pilot! Dammit all! He's come here! 


	3. Gundam Wing AT: Love's First Step

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_Trunks_VS (AKA- Syrous)  
  
  
  
I apologize for not having posted any stories lately. I have been very busy lately. I have the whole story completed, but major work needs to be done on each chapter before posting. So, anyways, here is chapter 3. =-  
  
(Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam/Gundam Wing or anything that it entails. These rights are owned by Bandai. You may not in any way change this story, however you may put it anywhere you want.)  
  
Gundam Wing AT: The History of Michael Caper  
  
Silence. Darkness. The morbid emptiness that surrounded Michael for so long. The loud explosion of the gun going off ringing in his head over and over. The pain of that first shot, the relief of the last. All these feelings seemed to overwhelm him.  
  
Slowly Michael opened his eyes, the world seeming to be extremely bright. His neck hurt greatly, as well as his head. It was as if pain was being transmitted throughout his whole body. He could hear, barely, a faint voice in the distance. Slowly the voice came closer. It was a man's voice. An old man, to be exact. Still, everything was blurry.  
  
"Can you hear me, boy? Can you hear me?" the old man asked over and over again. Michael used all of his strength to nod, which induced an almost immediate sharp pain. "Ah, good good. I wasn't sure someone as young as yourself would make it through the operation. This has never been tested before, you know. You should feel honored." The man slowly came into focus. He was walking around the room looking through different parts of the office.  
  
"Where... is... um..." Michael stuttered out, trying to think of the words.  
  
"Slowly, now. You in all rights should be dead. Your brain is running on it's last leg right now. You need time to adjust to the Neural Link."  
  
"Wha.. i...s... t-t-t-dat?"  
  
"A Neural Link is a mechanical device connecting the spine to the brain which controls the muscles throughout your body. The cerebellum was ruptured by the gunshot you received to the throat. Also, the left side of your brain was damaged by the second gunshot you received. We managed to save you for the most part, but don't expect instant memory recovery."  
  
Michael stared up at the ceiling, completely confused as to his situation. He didn't understand anything the man was saying. Not a bit of it. "Whe...he...re is ma... mom?"  
  
The doctor fell silent, continuing his work as if ignoring the boy. Michael slumped down some. The answer to that question was obvious. As well as his father.  
  
Several minutes passed by as the doctor continued to work throughout the lab. Finally, he turned to Michael. "Has the link adjusted yet?"  
  
"I... think so." Michael said solemnly.  
  
"Good. Try to stand up and walk." Slowly, Michael scooted around the table, trying to position himself to stand up. He was a little weak, but he could feel something happening, as if he was getting stronger with every second. "Ah, good. I can see that the auto-adjust mechanism is working fine. Good good." Michael put his legs off the side of the table and slid down, and much to his surprise, stood up just fine. "Good, everything seems good enough. Now, lets test it." Michael looked at the doctor with a look of surprise on his face. "First off, lets start with the basics. Take this pencil from my hand." Michael reached out and pulled the pencil from the mans hand.  
  
The man nodded, then said "Again." Once again Michael went for the pencil, but this time the man drew away. Michael reached once more for the pencil, this time faster, and found that his arm moved almost at a blur taking the pencil. Both of them, the boy and the doctor, stared at the hand in amazement. "That, young man, is the true power of the Neural Link. It increases physical speed almost twice it's normal power. It sends information from the brain to the corresponding limb within the same nano- second. It might be wise for you to learn how to use it properly, though. Otherwise you might overextend yourself without even trying. Let your body adjust to dealing with such strength and speed. The muscles will develop with time to make you even faster."  
  
Michael stood, staring at the pencil in his hand. He couldn't believe his own speed. Slowly, however, his amazement faded and a question formed in his head. "How... how long have I been sleeping?", he asked unhappily.  
  
The doctor looked with a look of warm sympathy. "Almost a year and a half. The war you grew up in is over. The creation of the Super-tank, the Mobile Suit, ended that. Now we are a unified planet."  
  
The boy sat there for several minutes, tears in his eyes. A year and half. So long... so incredibly long...  
  
"WHAT?!", Emily yelled out in surprise. "What do you mean that Gundam pilot is here?!"  
  
Michael waved his hand at Emily slightly. "Keep it down. Look, he came in this afternoon while you were away. I don't know if he knows we are here or not, but it might be a good idea to keep our distance anyways."  
  
Emily sat down on the edge of the bed next to Michael, staring at the wall ahead of her with a look of deep thought. "Why would the Gundam pilot be here? That makes two here now. There are 3 reasons they are here. First: they are here for the same reason we are- Relena. Second: they are here for us in general. But that is not likely. Two Gundam pilots exposing themselves for something as small as killing the two of us is illogical at best. Third: they know about the new Mobile suits in construction and plan on destroying the one that will be sent here."  
  
Michael continued to look at her, trying to decide which answer would be right.  
  
Emily slowly looked toward him, worry in her eyes. "No matter what the answer, we need to let Lieutenant Mulligan know right away. It would be best."  
  
Michael thought for a second and then looked out the window on the other side of the room. "You're right. It would probably be best. We'll let them know in the morning. I'll head out there first thing. In the mean- time, we should continue on with our duties." He looked back over at Emily. "Just remember to keep a distance from them."  
  
Emily nodded. "I am supposed to go to a dance tonight. That reminds me, though. I had something to tell you..."  
  
Michael raised an eyebrow and continued to stare at her. "And what would that be?"  
  
Emily thought about it for a second and said: "Well, there have been rumors going around OZ that perhaps the Vice-Foreign Minister said something to Relena before passing away. She obviously hasn't been the same since. I just got word that she might be thinking about leaving this school."  
  
Michael squinted slightly. "I can't imagine her father would know anything so important as to get her to leave country. Does anyone know what he might have told her?"  
  
Emily shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. We still haven't figured that much out yet. We didn't even find out who took Relena after the incident took place." Michael nodded slightly. Before he could answer Emily stood up and stared to walk to the door. She turned to him and gave him the look of a parent "In any case, you need to stay put. Those wounds of yours won't heal over-night. I have to get ready for that dance so I can watch Relena. I was hoping you could join me, at least to give some form of normality to the situation, but I guess it's out of the question with the shape your in. Also, take care of that cut on your cheek. it's not much now, but it might become a scar if your not careful."  
  
Michael nodded slightly and thanked her for her advice. Emily headed out the door exhaling a final cheerful good-bye, despite all the bad news she just had thrown at her. Michael slid back down into his bed, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
Three good reasons at to why the Gundam pilot is here, and even then we aren't sure if those are the right reasons. I am curious of something else, though. Where are their Gundams? Those pilots can't have too much influence on this planet, which means there is a good chance the Gundams are out in the open somewhere near here, just waiting to be found.  
  
Michael rolled over, thoughts flowing through his head. No, I doubt they would leave their Gundams in an easily accessible place. Otherwise they would have been found by now, wouldn't they? This is all so very confusing.  
  
Duo had sneaked into the principles office and gotten the number of Heero's room very easily. He had luckily come on the night of a big dance, so most the campus was deserted, except for the main hall where the dance was being held. The school would be his for the night.  
  
Duo sat his room, unloading his bag. he didn't have much to unload, so it would be a quick job. Once he had finished unloading everything, he neatly set his bag to the side and laid down on his bed.  
  
With Heero's help, I'll be able to get Deathscythe back. With Heero here, maybe I can work out a plan. I heard OZ was working on a new type of Mobile Suit. The Taurus. My mission will be the same as his.  
  
Duo stared up at the moon through his window, looking throughout the sky. Deathscythe, ol' buddy, I know you're up there. I'll get ya back. Don't you worry about a thing.  
  
The clock on tower outside the school chimed out for eight o'clock. Duo could see the movement outside the main hall. The dance would start in about thirty minutes, but people were there early. He could go now. He opened the door and collectively walked down the hall to the elevator, pressing in the number he wanted. He leaned up against the edge of railing at the door started to close. Right before it closed, however, he heard a yell from around the corner. "Hold the door!"  
  
His reflex's were more than sufficient to stop the door. It reopened slowly and instantly from around the corner a girl in a bright, blue colored dress popped into the elevator. "Ah, thank you so much. I thought I was going to miss it!"  
  
Duo smiled. "No biggie."  
  
The girl reached over and pressed the button for first floor. Finally the doors closed and the elevator began moving down. Duo looked at the girl for some time before she finally noticed and looked his way. He breathed in with a startled manner, not realizing he was staring. "Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Duo.", he said as he reached out his hand, not knowing what else to do.  
  
The girl smiled sweetly and shook his hand, saying, "My name is Emily. Nice to meet you."  
  
Suddenly the door to the elevator opened. It was the first floor. Emily looked over and said "Ah, we're here! It was nice meeting you! Bye!" and headed out the door.  
  
"Uh... yeah, you too!", Duo called out as the girl ran out the elevator. Once the door closed Duo looked down at the hand she had shaken. "Wow... now that I think about it... that's some grip she has."  
  
Heero sat in his room, loading his gun. Normally being wounded wouldn't stop him from completing a mission, but he knew that going to kill the soldier now would be useless. Once he took out the boy, he would let the girl lead him to where the new Mobile Suits are stored, then he would kill her, too.  
  
Heero reached down and touched the wrapping around his ribcage area. That boy's strength was formidable. He would definitely be a problem if allowed to run around any longer.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud knock from the door to Heero's room. Heero looked up suspiciously and headed to the door. He was getting tired of all these visitors. He wanted to just shoot them through the door and go to bed, but he doubted the head of the school would be too happy with him over that.  
  
Heero walked over to the door and looked through the eye hole. On the other side of the door he could see a face he hadn't seen in a while. "It's you..." Heero opened the door and allowed the visitor in, closing it behind him.  
  
Emily had managed to make it to the dance on time. Relena was late... fashionably late, of course. This made it difficult for Emily to talk to her, but that was all right. She didn't feel in any way out of place among the girls at the party, allowing her to blend in nicely. Though, she could tell that she was definitely attracting the attention of quite a percent of the male population of the school. Being that she spent the past two years in the military, having a large group of boys drooling over her from a distance wasn't anything new.  
  
The dance started rather abruptly. It was nothing like what she was used to. This was a dance of the highest in upper-class. There wasn't even a DJ there. Luckily she had taken dancing classes as a child, so that wouldn't be too hard. And, for whatever reason, she just seemed to know finding someone to dance with wouldn't be too difficult, either.  
  
Emily continued to look around the room, and finally came to the conclusion that the boy Michael had run into earlier was not present. Slowly she walked over to the drink table and got a small glass of what looked to be juice, but knowing this crowd would mostly likely be a hundred thousand dollar bottle of wine. She took a sip of the drink and sighed in relief as she verified that it was indeed juice.  
  
All of the songs were slow dance songs, which meant that the dancing part wouldn't be too big of an issue. Emily stood off to the side, taking account of who all had attended the party and who hadn't. She noticed a group of kids on the other side of the room talking. From what she could tell, they were talking about here. She was trained to read lips, and figured out for the most part what they were talking about. One of the kids was curious as to why someone as pretty as Emily would be at the dance alone. A question she wondered herself, but decided not to think about. The reason being that her supposed "date" got beat up didn't exactly go over as a credible excuse.  
  
She continued to look around the room and see who was entering the party. The head of the school finally arrived, along with whatever date they brought. Emily knew that an attack had been planned for tonight. Lady Une was planning on coming herself to wipe out the school, and blame it on the colonies, thus killing Relena. But somehow Colonel Zechs talked His Excellency into canceling that order.  
  
Emily continued to watch the room when suddenly she saw someone familiar walk in. It was Michael, dressed in a tuxedo. The cut on his face was still there, but it didn't look half as bad as before. He must have put alcohol on it or something.  
  
Michael looked around the room for a second trying to see who all was there when he spotted Emily walking towards his from the other side of the room. He proceeded down the stairs and across the outskirts of the dance floor, until he finally came to Emily. "I thought you were going to stay in bed and heal.", Emily said, trying to mask her happiness by sounding upset with him. She wasn't doing all that great a job at it.  
  
"Well, I figured it would probably be best to come to crowded location for now. I can't fight in the condition I am in, and with a new pilot here, they might try to pull something while everyone is away. Anyways, I figured you could use some company. I'd for you to have to get "friendly" with some little school boy just to fit in."  
  
"So, in other words, you were jealous."  
  
Michael looked as if he had been accused of murdering someone. "I never said that!"  
  
Emily giggled at his dumbfounded reaction. "You implied it."  
  
"No I didn't! I was just reacting on sympathy for your situation, that's all!"  
  
"Suuuuuuuuure you were.", she cooed sarcastically.  
  
"Argh! You're impossible!", he said in an irritated fashion.  
  
Emily grinned. "I should hope so!" Michael looked very confused at this statement. "Well, anyways, lets at least dance. We can get a good view from the middle of the room, anyways."  
  
Michael nodded. Before he could make any kind of response Emily grabbed his hand and began dragging him out onto the dance floor. After going some ways into the middle floor, she finally quit pulling and turned to face him, over-dramatically falling into his arms. "Lets dance!", she said quietly.  
  
Michael sighed and shook his head. She was enjoying this WAY too much. They began dancing slowly, modifying their steps as the song went. Once they got into the beat of the song, they began dancing more fluidly. They could easily see over each others shoulder, and the movements of the dance allowed them an easy view of the room, though he began to find that Emily wasn't at all paying attention to the room. He was started to lose focus of it, too. He was enjoying the dance too much.  
  
After about three songs their dance had become more of a moving hug. He wasn't going to complain, though. It was probably his doing in the first place, not that he cared. This mission really wasn't going to be that bad after all.  
  
Duo sat in the chair in Heero's room, a look of worry on his face. "When do the new Mobile Suits arrive?"  
  
"I don't know." Heero sat on his bed fiddling with his gun. He had spent the past twenty minutes filling Duo in on the whole situation.  
  
"We should destroy those Mobile Suits as soon as possible.", Duo said, beginning to devise a plan.  
  
"Yes, but they are not our concern right now. We can't do anything until they arrive. We have two other concerns right now. Those Taurus suits planned to be moved the day after tomorrow, and the two OZ soldiers that are here."  
  
Duo looked over at Heero. "That boy is strong. He was the one who captured me in the Lunar Base. And he did that to you. We should watch our backs. We'll have to work together on this one."  
  
"I work alone. I don't need anyone's help."  
  
"Whatever you say. Just don't come whining to me when you get beat up again.", Duo said, standing up and walking to the door. Heero simply grunted in response. With that, Duo opened the door and headed out, leaving Heero to decide how to deal with his new-found problem. 


	4. Gundam Wing AT: The Last Minutes Before ...

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
  
Gundam Wing AT: The Beginning of a Legend.  
  
The day went by slowly. The room was cold and damp, like most med-rooms were. Little Michael was trying to cope with everything that had happened over the past few days. For the last three nights he simply cried himself to sleep, and each waking moment was spent thinking of his now dead parents. With the help of the doctors he was able to learn how to properly use his Neural Link. There were 5 doctors, who all looked quite strange. The head of the group was an odd looking man, who simply asked that the boy call him "Doctor J".  
  
The doctors had left for some reason, one which he did not know. He used this time to acquaint himself with the surrounding area, looking at all parts of the building. The doctors told him they planned to use him for something. That they could train him and make him a pilot. He didn't understand at the time.  
  
As he traveled throughout the building he saw many things, papers mostly, all diagramming vast scientific calculations on how to build certain machines. His curiosity, however, brought him to something else. A blueprint lying on the table.  
  
The blueprint was hard to understand. It looked like the design for a person, but it wasn't. It was for a machine. Like a big robot almost. He continued to look at the blueprint, staring at each detail, trying to make sense out of it. On the top of the paper he saw written the word "Wing". He didn't understand that, either.  
  
A voice from behind him proclaimed: "You may fly that one day."  
  
Michael turned to find Doctor J standing behind him. "Why?"  
  
"As a retaliatory weapon against the Alliance."  
  
"A... weapon? Why?"  
  
The doctor simply smiled. "To stop them from being so foolish as to attack the colonies."  
  
"The... colonies? Where are we?"  
  
"As I'm sure you've figured out by now, we are in the colonies."  
  
"We're in space?" Michael began to look worried.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Michael's' whole outlook on things began to get more and more bleak with each passing moment. First his parents die, then he almost dies, and now he is in space. Can it get any worse?  
  
  
  
It was time. Time for Michael to face the ultimate fact. One that he had been running from since this mission began: he HAD to get a job. He had thought that maybe this whole job thing would just blow over and they really would give him some money... fat chance. Emily had gotten one several days before, and now it was his turn. He felt somewhat out of place, being in a rich school and all, but yet still having a job. It didn't fit together at all.  
  
He finally managed to get a job working at a "Mom and Pop Noodle Shop". The people were nice, mostly, except for the ones who didn't like his cooking. It was usually pretty bad. Emily had learned not to come there on nights that Michael worked.  
  
Their mission seemed to have been one sided, mainly: Emily doing all the watching. Michael really couldn't help it, speaking that Relena spent all her time around the girls anyways. Instead, Michael took on his own agenda: watching the Gundam pilot and that colonial terrorist.   
  
He had received word that he was to fly an Aries in guard of an airshipment of Taurus Mobile Suits. These mobile suits may revolutionize the way war is waged. Emily had been ordered to await the arrival of a transport carrying a new mobile suit which would arrive here while the supposed Gundam pilot was away. They expected the Gundams to attack, so this would give him a chance to take out this Gundam once and for all.  
  
A scream arose in the back of the kitchen, a high pitched shriek of an old lady. Michael ran into the back, to find that the noodles he had put in the pot were boiling to the point of smoking. He ran as fast as he could and turned off the stove, and found the owner of the restaurant, Mrs. Maya, staring angrily at him. All he could do was raise his hands in apology and continue on.  
  
The day went by soon enough. He had decided to work on his day off from school to get some extra money in. He arrived at the school sometime after ten at night. He was a little tired from working all night. He looked around and noticed several rooms in the dorm were having some form of construction work done on them. Remodeling or something.  
  
He headed up to his room, a sick feeling that maybe his room was one of the ones being remodeled. Luckily for him, it wasn't. He went into his room and dropped his stuff on to the chair. He had a little headache, so he didn't bother to turn on the light. He simply headed for the bed, jumped up, and flopped onto it.  
  
"OOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!" a female voice screamed from under him as he flopped down.   
  
Michael fell immediately to the floor and then ran to turn the light on. Once it was on, he looked over to find Emily comfortably laying in his bed. "What... are you doing here?"  
  
"Oh, well, see: my room was one of the ones being remodeled, so I figured I would sleep in here. I thought you would be working all night, so I didn't think you would mind.", she said groggily, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the bright light.  
  
Michael let out a long sigh. "Figures. So, how long is this 'remodeling' going to be taking place?" He walked over and moved his stuff out of the chair and sat down in it.  
  
"They say it should be done by tomorrow morning. They will be working all night."  
  
"Hell of a time to do it, if you ask me."  
  
"Yeah, well, it'll only be for tonight. Don't worry, I don't hog the covers.", she cooed as she moved over to give him room to lie down.  
  
Michael blushed slightly, though he tried not to, and said "No worries there. I am more than comfortable where I'm at, thanks." With that he reached over, grabbed his jacket off the ground and covered himself with it.  
  
Emily simply shrugged and said "Your choice. See ya in the morning. Sweet dreams!" and then rolled over.  
  
"G'night" Michael said as he leaned over and clicked off the light. He could hear her breathing take a more rhythmic flow as she fell asleep. He, however, did not have that luxury. He couldn't sleep at all. Finally he gave up at about one in the morning and decided to go outside. It wasn't too cold outside. No one would see him anyways. Not at this time at night.  
  
Michael slowly got up and headed out the door, his shoes in hand. He decided to put them on outside so he wouldn't make much noise.  
  
The night was the perfect temperature, in his opinion. Not too hot, but not too cold. Right in the middle. It felt like Spring.  
  
Things had been going smoothly lately. The Gundam pilots hadn't caused him or Emily any more problems, so far, and Relena seemed to be doing well enough. As for him and Emily, things were going along well. They seemed to be a little closer after the dance earlier that week, though they never really mentioned it.   
  
The Taurus suits would be leaving in two days. A change had been made in the schedule, and it was decided that Emily and Michael both assist in guarding the Air Route over their base.   
  
There was a slight rustling behind him. Michael tensed slightly, ready to move quickly if the need arose. Walking through the leaves behind him was Duo, hands in pockets, simply enjoying the night. Duo walked up and came to a stop beside Michael, never actually looking at him.  
  
Michael stared at Duo, wondering what this boy could be up to. "Night is a beautiful thing, don't you agree?" Duo said, staring up at the stars. "You can see everything right now. The stars, the moon, all of it right under your fingertips."  
  
"You here to try to kill me?", Michael asked, anxiety in his voice.  
  
"Naw. If I was going to try to kill you, I would have done it before now. I just don't think I could."  
  
Michael continued to stare at Duo, who was looking up at the sky. He wasn't sure what to make of this Gundam pilot. What is he after? Michael looked up at the sky, following Duo's gaze throughout the stars. "We'll meet on the battlefield in two days, no doubt?"  
  
"No." Duo said, an assuredness in his voice that told Michael it was the truth.  
  
"You're not going to attack the shipment?"  
  
"Of course I am, but not the air route."  
  
"I see." Michael continued to look up at the sky, seeing the stars twinkle above him. "Why come talk to me?"  
  
Duo shrugged. "I like to know who I fight, that's all. Also, I wanted to see if you were anything like... him."  
  
Michael looked over at Duo, his eyebrow raised. "Who?"  
  
Duo grinned and looked up at the sky again. "Someone who is just as strong as you. You were a lot like him while fighting in the Lunar base."  
  
"Heero Yuy..." Michael said under his breath.  
  
Duo looked over at Michael slightly surprised. "Yep. You've met?"  
  
"You could say that." The sharp pain in his side reminded him avidly of his "meeting" with Heero Yuy.  
  
Duo looked back up at the sky, and then finally turned and walked back towards the dorms. "See ya soon."  
  
Michael looked back at Duo as he walked off. "I guess." Michael finally headed back to his room, and spent the rest of the night thinking about this encounter.  
  
  
  
Michael woke to the refreshing smell of pancakes. Finally coming to, he looked around the room to find that Emily had gone down and bought them both breakfast.  
  
"Ah, wakey wakey, sleepy head." a cheerful Emily said from the bathroom. Steam poured out of the room, turning his bedroom into a sauna. "Ya know, I was thinking we could maybe hit the beach today! What do ya think?"  
  
Michael stood up slowly and set his jacket-cover to the side. "The beach, huh? I don't have anything to swim in."  
  
"Oh, I took care of that. Some swimming trunks just your size. They're black too, so they should be perfect for YOU."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Michael asked as he gathered his cloths from about the room and tried to get the room in some form of neatness. "Just because I am not color-prone like some people doesn't mean anything at all."  
  
"Oh, sthure! Dats jutht thomefing will hafta fix, ithn't it?" Emily said, obviously brushing her teeth.  
  
"You dressed in there?"  
  
"Ya, dun't worry."  
  
Upon hearing that Michael walked into the bathroom, slipped past her from behind, and started looking around on a shelf next to the tub. "Where is it... ah, there we go!" Michael said as he grabbed a squirtbottle. He then headed into the bedroom, grabbed his cloths and headed back into the bathroom. Emily watched intently, somewhat curious as to what Michael was doing. Michael neatly set his clean cloths on the side of the counter, opened the water bottle, and put the head of it under the already running faucet. Once it was filled up halfway, he put the cap back on it and aimed it at Emily. "Out." and then started spraying her.  
  
Emily let out with a laughing scream as she scurried out of the room, to find the door instantly shut behind her. "Hey!! No fair!!"  
  
"You would have been in here all day otherwise. I'll claim it while I still have a fighting chance." Michael said through the closed door.  
  
After Michael's shower he felt completely refreshed. He headed out into the bedroom, feeling better than ever, to find an irritated Emily sitting on his bed giving him a deathstare, a toothbrush still in her mouth. Once he was out she plodded back in and rinsed out her mouth, and finally dried her hair.  
  
Michael, after getting his shoes on and getting ready to go, fixed up the sheets on the bed and laid down on them. He simply stared at the ceiling, enjoying the feeling of the nice soft bed compared to that stupid chair. Suddenly he could hear a clumping coming towards him and then finally saw Emily sail through the air and land right on top of him.  
  
"OOOOF!!!!" Michael let out as she landed right on top of him.  
  
Emily said "That's what you get!" as she stood up and stuck out her tongue at him. Finally she walked back to the closet, gathered their swimming cloths, and coaxed Michael into coming.  
  
  
  
Michael sighed as he walked out onto the beach in his new swimming trunks. Most people got missions where they go out and fight in space or something. But nooooo, he had to be stuck with THIS mission. Relena and her crowd had decided to go to the beach, for whatever reason, so Michael and Emily had to tag along. Of course, it wasn't the worst mission in the world. Being ordered to sit around and watch a bunch of girls in swim-suits and bikinis having fun at the beach was definitely on his list of best missions.  
  
After some time of walking pointlessly around on the very hot beach sand, he found nice, cozy little spot to set up his beach towel where he could watch the girls. After some time he finally got a chance to lay down and relax, which was a great feeling.  
  
Michael looked up from his wonderful little spot to see Emily walking towards him. It was like watching an angel head his way, with the exception that an angel's bikini would have been a more modest. She was more confusing than he was. She seemed like the ultimate partier. A completely carefree girl, but how could she have the record she has?  
  
Emily walked over and nudged Michael over with his foot, making some room for her to lay down. "Wow, it's nice out here."  
  
"It's really hot.", Michael whined, as he tried to find that comfortable position he had a couple of seconds ago.  
  
"That's not saying much coming from a guy who's lived most his life in the air conditioned colonies.", Emily said.  
  
Michael simply grunted, and laid back with his hands behind his head and stared at the sky. Emily set her hands to her sides and spread out as much as she could, for the best tan possible. "Hmmm... I need to put on some sun-tan lotion." She said, aiming the statement at Michael.  
  
"Bug off. I'm busy being lazy."  
  
Emily chuckled as she opened the bottle and squirted some on her arm. "You really should learn how to enjoy yourself, you know."  
  
"I am enjoying myself." Michael said, trying to get her to leave him alone so he could catch up on his long lost sleep. Suddenly he felt a really cold substance squirt all over his stomach. The strange ice cold feeling instantly hitting him after being in that hot sun sent him ten feet up screaming. "WHAT WAS THAT?!!!"  
  
Emily rolled over laughing, the bottle in her hand. "I was just going to put some on you. Jeez, aren't you high-strung!" she said chuckling, wiping tears from her eyes.  
  
Michael grumbled in extreme irritation, still panting from his near heart attack. After getting the guts to go near her again, Michael laid back down next to Emily and tried to get comfortable again. Emily just shook her head and laid back down.  
  
  
  
"You know you enjoyed yourself!" Emily said as they walked back into the dorm. "Just admit it!"  
  
"It was boring.", Michael said, happy to be home.  
  
"Ah, good, my room is finished!" Emily said, looking towards her room.  
  
"Ah, ok. I'll walk you there."  
  
Emily simply shrugged and plodded on up the stairs, Michael close behind. It had taken some convincing, but she finally managed to get him to buy a sailing hat with seashells on it. He looked hilarious in it, and wasn't happy about wearing it at all.   
  
They finally got to her room, and after some inspecting, she decided it looked fine. Michael stayed there for a little while, talking, and then headed off.  
  
Michael finally got to his room. He opened the door, threw the extra stuff on the chair and jumped onto the bed. Tomorrow was the big day. The new Mobile Suits would arrive tomorrow, and Michael could finally take on the Gundams. Assuming he survived his guard mission that night.  
  
The continuous worrying plagued his every thought until he finally fell asleep. 


	5. Gundam Wing AT: A Night of Dreams

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
  
This is it. This is the one where the last of the original Gundam Wing influence is lost. This chapter will be the last chapter that involves any part of original timeline, so from this point on, nothing else will go entirely from the series. Just thought I'd let you know, because there will be some variances from this point on.  
  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
  
Gundam Wing AT: A Night of Dreams  
  
No one suspected a thing. Michael moved slowly and carefully down the hallway, trying to get to the shuttle he had seen earlier. Doctor J had taught him how to pilot a shuttle, which made escaping even easier.  
  
Michael had been more than happy to join the rebels and pilot a Gundam for them, but after hearing the specifics of Operation Meteor, he was quickly losing interest. The amount of lives lost would be innumerable.  
  
He had been in space for almost 2 years. He had just turned 9 about a month ago, and had no intention of staying any longer. The shuttle bay was easy to get in to, and the shuttle was already open and ready for launch, which was slightly strange.  
  
As he entered the shuttle, he heard a voice from behind him. "Are you leaving?" It was Doctor J.  
  
"Yes.", Michael replied, nervously.  
  
"I see. Was Operation Meteor too much for you?"  
  
"So many people would die. I can't do something like that."  
  
"I see. You have a good heart, but I don't think you would be well suited to pilot Wing. I will find someone else. But remember this: you can NEVER tell anyone what you have seen or heard here. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then leave here, now. Before someone else notices you."  
  
"Just like that? 2 years of training and you aren't in the least bit upset?", Michael asked curiously.  
  
"No. I knew when I was training you that you wouldn't be able to go through with something like this. I was simply waiting to see how long it would take you to finally quit. I had hoped you might stay, but I knew you wouldn't."  
  
"I see... well, I'm off then." Michael turned and walked into the pod. "Doctor... thanks."  
  
The doctor just nodded, and then returned to the hallway from which he came. Michael launched the shuttle, and chose a destination: Earth.  
  
  
The plane was being prepared in the hanger, several hundred troops all running around frantically trying to load the cargo. The new Taurus suits would revolutionize Mobile Suit combat, and make the destruction of the Gundams a much easier goal to attain.  
  
Michael Caper and Emily McKeon sat in the cockpits of their Aries suits, which were still sitting in the hanger at the air base. Emily was keeping busy, checking and double checking all systems and making sure everything was working perfectly. Michael, however, was not as cautious.  
  
Michael let out a yawn and leaned back in his chair, trying to find a comfortable position to take a nap in. Time was going slowly. He was ready for this mission to be over with so he could enjoy a nice relaxing evening back in his dorm room. Somehow, though, he knew things just wouldn't work out that way. He'd be out until well into the morning, just like always.  
  
  
The doors to the elevator in the Control Center quickly opened. Lady Une, accompanied by Lieutenant Noin, exited the elevator and began walking towards the computer in the middle of the room.  
  
"Mobile Suit preparation for both the flight course and the railway course are complete.", one of the soldiers working at a computer declared.  
  
"Check with the observation satellite for any irregularities along the course.", Lady Une commanded.  
  
"Yes, ma'am!"  
  
"Only a matter of time...", Lady Une said to herself.  
  
"Excuse me, Colonel Une.", Noin said curiously. "Which is the true carrier route their going to be using?"  
  
"Both are extremely important."  
  
"Gundam 4 located 9.0 kilometers from Land Route Point A.", one of the soldiers declared.  
  
"Right. Aries Number 4 Squadron: Attack!", Lady Une shouted.  
  
Lady Une and the others watched the map patiently, viewing the battle from their post.  
  
"A Flying object is approaching from the South East at great speed. Believed to be 01.", one soldier said.  
  
"It'll arrive at the supply base in T-minus 300.", another declared.  
  
"Come in, Zechs.", Noin said speaking into her headset microphone. "01 has just arrived. It's headed for the air route supply base where we're fighting off 03."  
  
"That's fortunate.", Zechs voice said over the radio. "He's attacking the air route. It'll be close, but I'll take him out mid-way."  
  
  
"03 is more powerful than I'd thought!", Michael yelled as his Aries barely dodged yet another missile. Quickly it switched it's gun to the left hand, spun with it's side facing 03, and it's left arm extending and gun aiming at the Gundam, and began firing. Several bullets hit the armor, but didn't seem to do much, if any, damage.  
  
The chaingun arm on 03 quickly lifted up, firing out at Michael's suit. The Aries flew to the side, barely avoiding the bullets. Emily's Aries came in behind 03, gun aimed at point-blank range, and began firing rapidly. In the distance, Michael could see 01 landing, it's beam gun devastating large groups of OZ Leos.  
  
03 quickly spun around, smashing into the side of Emily's Aries with it's arm, then spinning to let out a finishing fire. Emily, however, did not plan on dying. She quickly aimed for the head and began firing at 03's camera, temperarily blinding the Gundam. However, a missile lock had already been established, and an oncoming missile hit her Aries hard, sending it smoking to the ground.  
  
Michael came in from the side, looking to see if Emily was OK. Once he saw her pulling out of the cockpit and running to safety, he quickly turned and began firing at the Gundam again. 03's shoulders opened, revealing a large stash of missiles, all of which fired at Michael. Michael moved his Aries out of the way, allowing the missiles to miss him by a longshot and destroy several hangers in the distance.  
  
Before he could attack again, he noticed 03 look in the opposite direction. Michael followed it's view until it saw 01, standing across from the Tallgeese.  
  
"All right! Zechs is here!", Michael yelled out happily. Before he could continue his celebration, however, 03 began moving towards the air hangers. Michael quickly moved in it's way, and began firing at it again. The Gundam was too quick for his conventional suit, and it managed to release a hidden blade from it's arm. It quickly moved in and sliced upward, cutting clear through the Aries suit.  
  
Michael let out a scream as the computers around him began to burst into electricity, the monitors exploding. The remains of his mobile suit landed with a thud. He had 30 seconds to get out before the suit would self detonate. Most suits did it the instant a fatal hit was taken, making sure that no-one would be able to steal the remains and get their technology. Higher personnel, however, had the authorization codes to over-ride, or delay the sequence before starting a mission. Lady Une decided to give Michael 30 seconds to get out.  
  
Michael quickly unhooked the straps that were holding him into the seat. He pressed the button to open the door, but all the computers were completely shut down. He reached back, clenched his fist, and hit the door as hard as he could.  
  
  
Emily was standing close to where Michael's Aries went down. She ran towards it, knowing full and well that his 30 seconds were almost up. A blow like that would have severed the computer link ups, so the door wouldn't open. On top of that, the reinforced steal plating would be impossible for a human to force open.  
  
Emily watched the Aries suit, scared out of her mind that Michael wouldn't make it out. Suddenly she heard a loud smash, like something hitting the cockpit door from the inside. The door slowly began to bend outward with each hit, breaking more and more.   
  
Emily stood there in complete shock. Most tanks couldn't deal that kind of damage to the armor of an Aries. Finally there was a loud crack, as the now crumpled door flew off the hinges. Michael pulled himself out, and ran down the side of the Aries, jumped off, and ran shrieking at the top of his lungs towards Emily. Emily just stood there staring at him, standing in complete and total shock. Then the Aries blew up.  
  
Michael came to a stop in front of her, leaning over panting, his fists bloody. He quickly stood up straight, looked at them, and began blowing at them frantically. The fighting around them seemed to stop. Both of them turned and look around, noticing all the suits on the battle-field, including the gundam, staring at 01 and the Tallgeese. Suddenly, the door to 01 opened, and a boy stepped out onto the open platform.  
  
"Heero...", Michael said, simply staring. "He's a... he's a Gundam pilot. Why didn't I see that before? That explains partly his strength." Slowly Heero raised his right hand out in front of him, a detonator in his hand.  
  
"What's going on? 01 had the capabilities to fight a hand to hand battle. Why stop now?", Emily asked.  
  
"I... don't know." Michael said, staring on.  
  
Heero stood for a second, mumbled something, and then pressed the button. The area around them lit up as the Gundam began to detonate. "Get down!", Michael yelled, pulling Emily down with him. There was a loud explosion, and then pieces of Gundanium began flying in all directions. Several large chunks landed near Michael and Emily, but only small debris hit them.  
  
Both looked up to see the remains of 01 standing there, slowly falling apart. The main body finally broke off from one of the legs, and the whole Gundam hit the ground.  
  
03 slowly turned and began moving towards the destruction. The fighting began to pick up again, as the Gundams made a slow retreat. 03 slowly stepped down and picked up something from the wreckage. The Tallgeese stepped in front of it, but did nothing. Slowly, 03 stepped back, and began walking away from the battle.  
  
"What's going on?! Why did Colonel Zechs allow the Gundam to simply walk away? And why did 01 self-detonate?", Emily asked, watching everything from the airfield near where her and Michael's Aries units crashed.  
  
"I don't know. But, I think that perhaps this battle is over with.", Michael said, relaxing slightly. "It's been a long, confusing night. Let's report back in and get the details, all right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
  
Michael had slept well that night. The next morning he received news that Heero and Duo had changed schools. Emily had been in the infirmary most of the morning, the glass cuts from the monitors in her MS being dealt with one at a time. Michael had somehow come out with only a few bruises, and a set of broken knuckles.  
  
One of the doctors come into the lobby where Michael was waiting. Michael quickly came to attention. The doctor walked out solemnly, papers in his hands. "At ease."  
  
Michael relaxed slightly. "What's the problem, doctor?"  
  
"Well,", the doctor began, "I was going to ask YOU that." Michael raised an eyebrow slightly. "You see, we have no records of you ever living in Ottawa, Canada. As a matter of fact, before you joined the junior army training camp, there are no records of you at all."  
  
"Not surprising. During the war that I left Ottawa in, it was occupied by enemy forces. They most likely tampered with records and such. I'm sure those were lost."  
  
The doctor looked suspiciously at Michael. "I see... I guess so. Thank you for your time." The old man then turned and headed back into the office.  
  
Michael sat down relaxed again. "Heh. Guess I don't exist any more."  
  
  
Emily was happy to finally sit down and eat, after the whole ordeal from the other day. "That was something else. I tell ya, these Gundam encounters get more and more difficult as time goes."  
  
"Yeah, but see, if they are all the same age as Heero and Duo, then I would be willing to bet these are their first real battle-front missions. They're getting used to it.", Michael said as he put more cheese on the lasagna.  
  
"True. Probably a lot like you. That was only your second mission, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah. 2 missions and both had Gundam encounters. Some luck, huh?", Michael said, chuckling slightly.  
  
"Speaking of Gundams, we're to report to hanger 12 in 4 hours. The new Gundams arrived last night."  
  
Michael nodded happily. "So I heard. I can't wait to see them."  
  
"Neither can I."  
  
Both finished their lunch in silence, never touching the subject that both of them thought so much about: Heero Yuy's death. 


	6. Gundam Wing AT: The Ultimate Weapon

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
  
Gundam Wing AT: The Ultimate Weapon  
  
Michael had landed in a remote part of Earth. He had hoped to land near Ottawa, Canada, but somehow missed it entirely. After wandering for some time, the local police found him and brought him in.  
  
After asking him many questions, the police finally decided to send him to a local orphanage where he would stay until thing were worked out. However, after a short amount of time, the military arrived and took Michael to a nearby base.  
  
Michael was then taken to a small room, an office for the commander of the base. "Ah, Michael. Wonderful. We had wondered what happened to you."  
  
Michael looked at the man in shock, clueless as to who he was or why he had Michael brought here.  
  
"You... do know who I am don't you?", the man asked. Michael began to realize that this man was a very high ranking officer. Not the base commander.   
  
Michael simply shook his head in response.  
  
"I see. It seems you were right, doctor. They did something to him, all right. Amnesia it seems. Tell me, boy. What do you remember of your childhood?"  
  
"I lived with my parents until they died 2 years ago, sir."  
  
The man continued to stare at Michael. "I see. Hypnosis, you think?", the man asked the doctor standing next to him.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
Michael looked around confused. "Wha...?"  
  
"Listen, Michael. The war ended 4 years ago. You're parents died when you were 4 years old. After that you came into the Earth Alliance Military Testing and Research Field. Apparently whoever took you for these past 2 years wanted you to forget about us entirely and so they made you think they took you in right after your parents died."  
  
Michael continued to just stare at the man. The man finally sighed and sat back. Look, you need some rest. I'll have someone escort you to a room. I'll see you in the morning." After that, one of the soldiers stood up and walked over to Michael. Michael got out of the chair and walked to the door, never saying a word to anyone.  
  
Michael had no reason to believe anyone of this, and so until he saw some form of proof, he wouldn't believe it. As the two of them continued down the hallways, they spotted a man walking towards them. The soldier instantly went into a salute.  
  
The man was 22 years old. He was about 6'4", had short black hair parted in the middle, very light blue eyes, wore a blue suit with a white shirt with the top 2 buttons unbuttoned, no tie, black gloves, black wing tips, and a black trenchcoat, which he had buttoned up, the sash tied. The man walked up to Michael and smiled. "Hey, shrimp. Took ya long enough to get back."  
  
Michael simply looked up at the man in surprise.  
  
The man smirked and chuckle slightly. "I see. So it is true. They did get to you. Oh well. You'll remember eventually" With that, the man, passed by Michael and started back down the hallway.  
  
"What's your name?", Michael called out down the hall.  
  
"Olminith.", the man replied as he continued down the hall.   
  
  
Emily continued to bounce around the hanger, cheering like a little kid. In front of her was her own, personal Mobile Suit: The Ginform Nautica.  
  
The Nautica was a large Gundam, about the same size as the Tallgeese. It was midrange size, slightly mobile. It had a large beam cannon attached to it's left arm, along with a shield. It also had several rocket launchers and such on it's back. It was colored in red and green colors.  
  
Emily looked over the specs, very pleased. "My gosh! This thing could devastate an entire army of Leo's without a second thought!"  
  
"Correct. It's designed as a fully capable land battle unit. You air power will be limited slightly, but it will be dominant on the ground.", Lady Une explained.  
  
"This is so great! I can't wait to show Michael!! Wonder if he likes his...", she said, looking towards the door to the other hanger where Michael and his new Gundam were.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure he does.", Noin said, smiling.  
  
  
Michael stood in front of his new Gundam, his left eye twitching. The engineer continued to explain the specs on the gundam. The soldiers in the back, some of Michael friends who had tagged along to see the new weapon, were laughing, pointing and making jokes.  
  
Michael's Gundam stood at the same height as a conventional Leo suit, but was much thinner and sleeker. It sported a small, hand-held laser rifle, capable of being folded up and stuck into the left leg. It housed several hand to hand combat weapons, including dual reinforced steel blades hidden under each forearm, a beam saber, also hidden in the arm, and a large Gundanium staff, which could retract into a small tube, which could be placed anywhere. The suit was colored in yellow and black.  
  
"What... what did I... I do... to deserve... THIS?!", Michael cried out.  
  
"It's nice isn't it?", the engineer asked, still admiring the suit.  
  
"NICE?! It's a toothpick!!!!", he yelled. "A Leo could beat this thing up!"  
  
"Don't take it lightly because of it's size. It was chosen to be like this for a reason."  
  
"I know it was! The reason was that the designer was on crack!", Michael shouted, irritated.  
  
The engineer simply shook his head in disapproval. "It was designed this way so that it could be superior in hand to hand combat. It has the same reactor as the other gundam models, but because of it's size, it uses less energy. So not only does that give you more energy to allocate to weapon systems, but you also can go longer. And it's size was designed for speed. It can move fast."  
  
"So why was I the one chosen to pilot it? Just give me something with some big guns! Maybe a nuke or two!"  
  
The engineer shook his head again. "You were chosen because of your high reaction speeds. Your the only person who could put this weapon to proper use."  
  
Michael sighed and looked at this pathetic display in front of him. "When do we test it?"  
  
"Right now. Suit up when you're ready. You'll be doing a test battle with Emily McKeon's new suit. In the first part you two will take out stationary objects. In the second, you will take on moving mobile suits. So, suit up."  
  
Michael nodded. "Right." Michael climbed quickly up the ladder and stepped into the cockpit, sitting down. He pressed several buttons on the side, closing the door. The cockpit came to life as it strapped him in and the monitors came on. Emily's face appeared on the screen to his left.  
  
"Ah, there you are! Enjoying your new suit?" Emily asked happily. "I love mine!"  
  
Michael smiled slightly. "Yeah... it's just great.", he said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, you ready? Lets get out there!"  
  
Michael nodded. "On my way."  
  
  
Lieutenant Noin watched from the tower as the Ginform Nautica stepped out of it's hanger. It walked out the door of the hanger and out onto the runway, causing the ground to shake.  
  
Suddenly the door of the hanger next to the Nautica's opened. The Guardian Kilroth walked out, it's footsteps sounding like light taps compared to the Nautica's. The Kilroth walked over and stood next to the Nautica. The Nautica's size completely dwarfed the Kilroth in every way.  
  
Noin watched as the Kilroth looked the Nautica up and down, pointed at it, and then looked over at the tower where she was at. Suddenly, one of the soldiers yelled "Incoming message from the Kilroth, ma'am."  
  
"Patch it through.", Noin replied.  
  
Michael's face appeared on the screen in front of her. Before she could say a word, Michael asked "Are you sure THAT one isn't supposed to be mine and this one Emily's?"  
  
"No, soldier. You are in your proper suit. Now prepare for the test."  
  
"Yes ma'am", Michael said unhappily, and the screen switched off.  
  
  
Michael quickly sent a message to Emily. The screen popped up with her face. Michael started off "All right, let's see wha... um..." Michael looked at the picture of Emily, who looked slightly tired, giggling hysterically and wiping tears from her eyes. Michael got a quick look of irritation. "... ... ... You were laughing at me... weren't you?", Michael said in a monotonous voice.  
  
"No, no! Of course not!", Emily giggled. Michael continued to stare at her flatly. Emily burst out laughing again.  
  
Michael sighed. "You just wait! I'll show you!... I think...." With that, the screen clicked off.  
  
Several large rectangular objects appeared throughout the airfield. Noin's voice came over the intercom. "These boxes are made with over two hundred layers of reinforced titanium armor. This would be almost impossible for a regular suit, but should be child's play for a Gundam. Emily, choose a target and destroy it."  
  
The Nautica suddenly lifted it's cannon, firing it at one of the targets. The target was completely destroyed. "Nice one.", Noin said. "Michael, you're up."  
  
The side of the Kilroth's leg opened up, revealing an energy rifle. The Kilroth the grabbed the rifle, which unfolded to full length, aimed and fired at the object. The blast burned a slight hole on the side of the target, but nothing more. Michael sat there in irritation.  
  
"Caper, use the hand to hand weaponry installed in your suit."  
  
The Kilroth suddenly took off running towards the object. The speed of the suit surprised even Michael. Michael pressed several buttons. The blades on the bottom of the arms suddenly swung out, and the Kilroth jumped forth, swinging and slicing the target into two.  
  
Michael sat in the cockpit, slightly surprised. "Wow." He said. "That was... amazing."  
  
"I told you.", Noin's voice said over the intercom. "Your suit was built for hand to hand combat. Now, lets try it on moving targets. These four mobile suits are not manned. They are being remote controlled from here, so you may destroy them."  
  
Four Leo suits came out of the hangers near where the two Gundams were. "Attack.", Noin commanded.  
  
The Nautica lifted it's rifle and fired at the Leos, all of which moved out of the way easily. "What the-? They're good!" Emily yelled. "Who are the pilots?"  
  
"That's not important. Continue the assault."  
  
The Kilroth ran towards one of the Leos. The Leo lifted it's gun and fired, the bullets just barely missing the Gundam. Suddenly, the Kilroth jumped into the air, going over the Leo's head and landing behind it, spun and cut it completely in half. The Leo exploded instantly.  
  
The Nautica flew up to one of the Leo's, grabbed it's head instantly, and with the other hand slammed through the torso, causing the whole machine to explode.  
  
The side of the right forearm on the Kilroth pushed open, revealing a hidden compartment. From inside the compartment, a small cylinder popped out, slipping into the Kilroth's hand, the cylinder then extending into a Gundanium staff.  
  
Michael targeted the next Leo. A series of beeps confirmed the target was locked. His suit propelled forward, ran towards the Leo, spun, and skid backwards towards the Leo, it's staff nestled under it's arm. The staff then penetrated the body of the Leo, which exploded completely.  
  
Suddenly, his radar filled up with dots. He turned to see the cause of it, just in time to see the Nautica open it's shoulder containers and launch hundreds of missiles at the last Leo, completely destroying it.  
  
Emily's face suddenly appeared on Michael's screen. "That was fun! These suits are great!"  
  
Michael looked somewhat weary, but agreed. "You're right. This one could use more fire power, but it seems OK. I just wonder if the armor will last."  
  
Lieutenant Noin's face appeared on the screen opposite from Emily's. "It should do just fine. There are over 2000 layers of Gundanium Alloy in the chest armor alone. It should withstand a great deal. A lot of technology was put into your suit. All right, that concludes the testing. How are you systems checking out?"  
  
"Everything on mine is just fine. The controls are a little slow, though. I think a recheck on the joints might be necessary.", Emily said.  
  
"All right. We'll get the technicians on it as soon as you come in. What about you, Caper?"  
  
"The power ratio seems a little low. It seems like the engine isn't giving enough power.", Michael replied.  
  
The voice of the head engineer came over the speaker. "To adjust the output ratio on a scale like that would require a complete overhaul of the core. You might not be able to pilot for at least a week."  
  
"I see.", Noin said, thinking. "Very well, get started right away. I don't think this Gundam would be a necessity within the next week."  
  
"Yes, ma'am." The head engineer replied.  
  
"You two return to your hangers at once. After that, your dismissed to return to your previous duties. His Excellency is awaiting your weekly report."  
  
Emily's face broke into a look of nervousness. "Oh no! I completely forgot!"  
  
"I suggest you get working on it soon. Return to the hangers at once. Noin out." With that the screen flickered back to normal.  
  
The two Gundams returned to their hanger, each locked up and the pilots allowed to leave. Emily finally managed to catch up to Michael, who was walking quickly towards the exit of the base.  
  
"What's up?", Emily asked as she caught up to him.  
  
"I have to be at work in 20 minutes. If I'm late today I'll get fired."  
  
"Oh, that's not good. Let's hurry, then!" After several more minutes of walking, the two finally arrived at their destination: a small car ready to take them back to school.  
  
  
The night had gone by rather quickly for Michael. Work wasn't too bad tonight, even though Mr. Liyuga nearly cussed Michael out for making the stew wrong.  
  
The walk back to the dorms was somewhat easing. There was no one out at this time of night. The street lights were spread out pretty far, so there were plenty of dark spots where he could see the stars.   
  
Michael looked to the distance and noticed a plane landing at a nearby Airforce base. The Alliance had built a base near here. They had no idea that the hidden OZ base was so close.  
  
Several Alliance soldiers walked down the street, some drunk, some just happy to be there. Michael passed by without getting in there way, which surprised him greatly. Alliance soldiers were often known to be violent drunks.  
  
A loud rumble began to shake throughout the area. The Alliance soldiers stopped and turned towards their Airforce Base, whispering to each other. Michael turned and looked with them, trying to figure out what the rumbling was. Then he saw it...  
  
The ground under the Airforce base began to crack as a large hidden door opened. Suddenly, a long metal pole extended from the ground. A loud sound, like a engine began to roar. The sounds of an elevator.  
  
Michael's eyes widened as he realized what it was coming out of the ground. A large Mobile Suit. A Gundam.  
  
The elevator finally came to a stop at ground level. The soldiers next to Michael began to cheer wildly as the eyes lit up and the machine came to life. "Finally!", one of the troops yelled. "The first night testing!"  
  
"What is that thing?" Michael asked.  
  
The soldier, obviously drunk, was happy to answer. "The Alliance's first Gundam: Silence-halo!" 


	7. Gundam Wing AT: A New Threat

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like  
  
listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
Gundam Wing AT: A New Threat  
  
Emily woke up the next morning feeling somewhat refreshed. The previous night was long and boring, leaving her feeling somewhat exhausted and frustrated. She would definitely have to find something to do today to make her feel better.  
  
After sitting in bed for some time, the waking girl slowly got up and scooted into the bathroom, filling up the bathtub and then flopping into it. The warm water soothed all her muscles, making her feel slightly happier than she had the night before.  
  
She had finished her long awaited report to His Excellency last night, and needed to get that to the airbase as soon as she could. "Guess that will give me something to do today", she mused as she continued to stare up at the ceiling. She would also spend some time taking care of her new mobile suit.  
  
A Gundam. The Gundam's had been made secretly and sent to Earth for some unknown purpose. They had found two of the pilots, who turned out to be mere teenagers. Emily chuckled slightly at a passing though. "Guess we can't talk. Michael and I are piloting OZ's suits. We aren't much better."  
  
With a woeful sigh, she pulled herself out of the now cold water, and snatched a towel off a nearby hook. After assaulting her hair for ten minutes or more with the towel, she decided it was dry enough, and began brushing it.  
  
Basic Training, learning to use a mobile suit, fighting against enemies: none of this compared to the pain and suffering she went through trying to get these god-forsaken knots out of her hair. After several minutes of delicately pulling out each of the horrible little fixations in her hair, she finished up by taking the blow drier to it. Finally done, she plodded over to her desk, looking around to find the report she wrote the night before. She continued to look frantically until finally noticing it on the floor near the foot of her bed. "Must have been looking it over before falling asleep. Guess I knocked it off in the middle of the night.", she said as she reached over and grabbed the fallen folder, and stuck it neatly in her purge.  
  
After making sure all was right, she closed the door and locked it. Knowing it was Michael's day off, she decided to see if he wanted to come with her. After walking through the infinitely crowded hallways, she arrived at her destination. Shifting so her overstuffed purse would get in her way, she reached up and knocked at the door, then turned and waited patiently.  
  
She continued to wait for a few more seconds before knocking a second time. Shaking her head she turned and headed down the hall once again. "Guess he is off somewhere", she noted to herself as she headed out the door of the dorms. Outside the school were several limousines, all belonging to the students in the school. Emily felt somewhat out of place in this school, but ignored it and continued.  
  
Emily slowly made her way down the steps and onto the sidewalk in front of the school. As she made her way down the sidewalk, past the cars, she heard a car horn from behind her. With every intention to ignore it, she continued on. However, the car horn let off again, drawing her attention to see whose limo was causing the ruckus. The car in question was a black vehicle, with a man in a driver's uniform up front. Before she turned to begin her walk again, she noticed the man lift up what looked to be a hat. After looking for a second she finally realized he was holding an OZ military hat. Quickly getting the idea, she turned and made her way to the vehicle. The driver then got out and made his way to the back door, opening it for her. Emily hopped into the backseat, noticing the school attendants watching intently. This would help her fit in.  
  
After shutting the door to the back seat, the driver made his way back into the front, started the engine, and drove out from the school. Once they were out of the gate, Emily decided to speak up. "Why were you sent to get me?", she asked curiously.  
  
The man shifted his gave from the road to the rearview mirror to look at her briefly, then went back to the road. "Private Caper had suggested that a car be sent to pick you up today, as it would better suit the image you are trying to uphold here."  
  
Emily nodded slightly. "Good thinking. Do you have any set destination in mind?"  
  
The driver slowly shook his head. "No ma'am. I am ordered to take you wherever you wish to go today. Orders of Lieutenant Noin."  
  
Emily nodded again. "I see. That's interesting. Wonder why they suddenly have the change of heart." The driver did not bother to reply, as he did not know the answer. "Alright then. Well, first I need to run by the airbase, if you don't mind.", she said happily.  
  
The driver tried to contain his smile of amusement at the enjoyment the young pilot was getting out of being driven around. "Yes ma'am. To the airbase it is.", the driver said as he shifted lanes.  
  
Emily simply sat back and looked out the window. "Well, today will definitely be relaxing day. That's for sure." With a sigh she slid down into her seat and closed her eyes, enjoying the ride ahead of her.  
  
The car arrived at the airbase some time later. Emily woke up to a hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. Blinking several times to adjust to the light, she found the driver leaning in the door. "We are here.", he said, somewhat formally.  
  
Emily let out a nod and looked around, noticing the base. Slowly turning, she slipped out of the car, and on to her feet. "I guess I fell asleep on the trip, huh?" She said warily. The driver simply nodded in response. Still dazed from her nap, she turned and headed away from the car, to the main building complex in the airbase. Turning one last time to check and make sure the driver was still present, she headed off into the building.  
  
Looking around intently, she noticed several high ranking officers moving about the base. On normal days this wasn't much of an issue, but it seemed today there were a lot more than usual. She slipped her way through the crowd, finally getting to the front desk. The lady behind the desk peered quizzically at her. "May I help you?", the young secretary asked.  
  
Emily nodded absent-mindedly as she reached into her purse and pulled out the small folder. "My name is Emily McKeon. This is my weekly report to His Excellency.", she stated as she set the folder on the desk, and slipped it closer to the girl on the other side.  
  
The lady behind the desk shifted slightly upon hearing who the report was for, and immediately grabbed the folder and ever-so-carefully set it a large envelope, which was then set in a filing cabinet to her left. "It will be delivered first thing. Is there anything else I can do for you?", the girl asked, now relaxing slightly after moving the very important paper from her desk and into a safe location.  
  
Emily though for a second, and stopped herself from automatically shaking her head. Thinking for a second, she asked, "Has Michael Caper come here today?"  
  
The young secretary looked thoughtfully at the papers on her for a second, before finally remembering. "Ah, yes, Private Caper. Yes, he is still here in fact." Emily immediately perched up. "He is in the meeting chambers right now."  
  
Emily raised an eyebrow at this comment. "Meeting Chambers? Why would he be there?"  
  
The secretary shrugged slightly. "I am not privy to all of the details of what goes on here, but I do know that there are many high ranking officers involved in that meeting. In fact, I believe His Excellency will be arriving soon, as well."  
  
Emily tried to keep her jaw from dropped at the thought of Colonel Trieze Khushrenada arriving at this base. "Wow. I wonder what's going on. Michael didn't mention anything last night."  
  
The secretary shrugged again. "I'm not sure myself. I do know, however, he came here some time in the very early morning. Possibly around two or three AM.", she commented.  
  
Emily thought to herself for a second, before finally deciding to bring the conversation to an end. "Thank you for all of your help.", she said, turning and leaving the counter. The secretary sat and watched Emily for a second, somewhat confused at the abrupt departure, but deciding to ignore it and continue on about her work.  
  
Walking over to the side of the room, Emily noticed several chairs, one of which she claimed for herself. "I guess I'll wait here until the meeting is over.", she said to no one in particular, as she sat back and watched the chaos in the room continue.  
  
Michael looked around the room sheepishly. In all his years in training and serving in the military, he had never once been in a room with so many officers before. He sat at one of the chairs towards the end of the table. There were many seats lining his side of the table, and many more across from him. On the opposite end of the table was a lone seat, facing across the whole table. That seat remained vacant, as did several of the seats near it.  
  
He had arrived hastily in the morning, not bothering to return to his dorms for sleep. The news of the new Gundam was too much to hold, and he had to let it out as soon as possible. He had told the officer on duty, who then called and woke up several more officers. The chain continued its way along, and eventually lost its way into the system. Michael gave up trying to figure out what was going on, and instead found himself a comfortable spot to sit in until all was done. Not long after that, however, a soldier came and said he was ordered to escort Michael to a set of meeting chambers. Michael had never been there before, so he allowed the soldier to lead the way. After which he sat there for hours on end, watching as officers from OZ bases around the world entered the room.  
  
A soldier slipped into the room and walked behind Michael's chair. Leaning over Michael's shoulder, the soldier began to whisper. "The front desk wanted me to inform you that Emily McKeon has just arrived and is in the front lobby." Michael perked up slightly at the thought. Seeing her would be the perfect thing to calm him down.  
  
With a slight turn, the soldier moved away from the chair and slid his way through the crowd of officers, trying not to run into anyone, or be noticed for that matter. Michael began to rise from his seat when the door on the other side of the room opened. Noticing this, Michael flopped back into his seat, deciding to wait and see what was going to happen. This was a choice he was very glad he made.  
  
The door was quickly opened by an armed guard, who took position next to it to keep it from closing. Following this guard came Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin, followed by Lieutenant Zechs Merquise, and finally the Lady Une. The guard remained at the door, holding it in attention as the three military figures took their seats on the opposite end of the table from Michael. Once everyone had been seated, a final person entered through the door, bringing shocked looks from several people in the room, including Michael.  
  
Treize Khushrenada took his seat at the end of the table, overlooking the many officers before him. As he sat down, he also laid a small pile of papers in front of him on the table. The soldier that had held the door for him quickly closed it, and moved into position as one of the armed guards filling this now sacred chamber.  
  
Michael stared across the room. Almost every big name in OZ, with the exception of Duke Dermail himself, was present in this room. His news was big, but it couldn't be that big.  
  
Michael's train of thought was interrupted as Treize shifted in his chair, causing many of the people in the room to stiffen slightly. "I'm pleased all of you could make it on such short notice.", Treize began. "I have received some very disturbing news, and thought it necessary to call this meeting. Where are our Gundam pilots?"  
  
Lady Une spoke up. "Private Caper, please stand up." Michael quickly shot to his feet, very nervous at all the attention. "Where is the other pilot?", she asked curtly.  
  
"In the lobby, ma'am. Or so I was informed.", he replied as loudly and clearly as possible.  
  
Lady Une gave Michael a quick glare then turned to a nearby soldier. "You: go bring the other pilot here immediately.", she said to him. The guard quickly nodded in response, and rushed out of the room.  
  
Moments later, which seemed like an eternity of silence to the now standing Michael, Emily came in, escorted by the just-as-shaky guard. The guard quickly closed the door and motioned for Emily to make her way to the other end of the table. She did so quickly, and found herself standing opposite from Treize, staring straight at him. "What did I do to deserve this?", she thought to herself slightly annoyed. Before going farther, however, she noticed Michael standing to her left, a few seats down. This relaxed her slightly. Whatever she did, it was obvious she wasn't the only one. Though she still felt slightly out of place, in a room full of soldiers in uniform she was the only one standing in shorts and a tank top. She would have felt worse, but noticed Michael's ridiculous looking work uniform that he was still wearing, which gave her some relief knowing how embarrassed he must feel.  
  
Watching her closely, Treize began to notice her worried look. "Do not worry. We did not bring you here for something that you did. You are here to be informed of something, just as everyone else in the room is.", he stated, motioning his hand over the rest of the officers as he spoke.  
  
Emily relaxed slightly, but not much, since she was still in spotlight. "Private Caper", Lady Une began, "please step to the end of the table and give your report."  
  
Michael nodded half-heartedly accompanied by a "Yes, ma'am.", and moved around from his chair and stepped beside Emily. He found being near her somewhat comforting, making it slightly easier to relay this short speech he had given three times before this morning to such a large group.  
  
"At around two hundred hours this morning, give or a take a few", he started nervously, cringing at his poor choice of wording yet continuing anyways, "I passed over a bridge forty one point three kilometers south south-west of this airbase. As I crossed over the bridge, located directly east of the Alliance airbase, I noticed a large door on the floor of the airbase open. From this door a large elevator pushed out a mobile suit. This mobile suit was identified by passing soldiers and the Alliance's first Gundam."  
  
There were several gasps from throughout the room at this discovery, some of the officers mumbling to each other. Lady Une ignored this and continued "How can you be sure it was a Gundam?"  
  
Michael shook his head. "I'm not, ma'am. If I was forced to make a judgment on it, however, I would say by its looks that it was a Gundam."  
  
One of the soldiers spoke up. "Why would an Alliance soldier tell you it was a Gundam?", he asked suspiciously.  
  
"He was drunk, sir.", Michael replied.  
  
"What can you tell us about this mobile suit from what you saw?", Treize asked, surprising several people in the room. Their gaze shifted from him back to Michael.  
  
"I'd say its size is somewhat larger than a Leo. The same size as any of the colonial Gundams.", he stated. "It sports several large weapons, including an energy rifle, and large missile packs on the back. Other than that the specifics I am not sure."  
  
"Is there a possibility this thing could be aerial?" Zechs asked shortly.  
  
Michael sat in silence for a second, thinking over the design of the Gundam. His silence began to provoke a comment from Lady Une, which was paused by gesture from Treize. "Give him time, Lady.", he said softly. Une simply nodded, and looked back to Michael.  
  
After some thought, Michael finally answered, "Yes."  
  
There was another stir throughout the room, and Treize smiled slightly. "How did you come to this conclusion?", he asked.  
  
Michael continued his blank stare forward, but his thoughts never strayed. "On the back of the Gundam was a large square indention. This indention could possibly house a pack containing the wings and/or other aerial devices for the Gundam."  
  
Treize nodded slightly and whispered to the three around him, "He is observant. That's good.", then returned his attention to Michael. "Thank you for the report." Michael nodded and stood for a second, confused as to whether to sit down or not. Deciding not to abandon Emily at the front of the table, he remained where he was. Treize continued to the officers: "Now you understand why this meeting was called. We have a new threat. This can be used to our advantage, however. I have called you from each of your military bases to inform you that you must now stand on high alert, and why." Each officer in the room nodded.  
  
Lady Une picked up where Treize finished, speaking to the two pilots. "You're Gundams have been completed and repaired, any flaws in their design fixed after you last test. We will be launching a group to verify this information before we act. In two days you will receive your new orders. Until then you are to continue watch over Relena Darlain."  
  
The two nodded slightly before Treize broke in. "Before you are dismissed.", he began, as he ruffled through some of the papers in front of him, pulling out a folder Emily recognized as the report she handed the secretary only a few minutes ago, "I received this on the way in. I was looking through it and noticed you mentioning the Gundam pilots. However, I have not seen any mention of their current whereabouts."  
  
Emily sat quietly, and after noticing Michael was not answering, realized the comment was directed at her. "Yes, sir. Their current position is unknown. We last saw them two days ago. After they transferred schools we have not seen any sign of them.", she replied.  
  
Treize nodded to her. "I understand. You did well finding them.", he said as he returned the paper to its rightful place in mess before him. "Thank you for your time.", he said smiling.  
  
The calm manner of the man they called 'His Excellency' was somewhat soothing to the two young soldier's before him. Though somewhat surprised he would thank them for coming to the meeting, they both reacted instantly, nodding once in unison. Lady Une gave a somewhat annoyed look in reaction to the small praise they had received from him, and decided to send them on their way. "You are dismissed. Return in two days for you new orders. Dismissed." The two nodded and headed for the door nearest to them, which was opened by a soldier, and closed after they left.  
  
The two stood in hallway, both letting out a sigh of relief. Finally, they could breath normally again. "Well, that was interesting.", Michael commented as he began to move down the hallway.  
  
"Interesting?!", Emily squeaked, still nervous from their 'meeting'. "This is what you get for working so late.", she chided.  
  
Michael chuckled. "Well, I guess we go to the hangers and play around with our Gundams for the day. Classes are out, so we don't have much better to do."  
  
Emily looked over to him with a disappointed look. "You're wanting to miss an opportunity to cruise the town with our own chauffer to work on Gundams?", she whined.  
  
Michael stopped and looked at her with a confused expression. "Huh?", he let out.  
  
Emily looked at him surprised. "You mean you don't know? They took your advice and gave us a driver and car for the day to help us fit in to the school." Michael's eyes brightened slightly at the thought. "See? So, lets not waste the day. Its barely ten. Lets go do something today!", she pleaded.  
  
Michael thought for a second and nodded, smiling. "Sounds good. We could use a day off anyways. I don't have to work today either."  
  
Emily let out with a pleased squeal before grabbing Michael's arm and rushing off towards the door, dragging him along. Michael simply followed along, figuring that he would relax today as much as possible. "Hey! I gotta change first, though!" he complained as they headed for the car. 


	8. Gundam Wing AT: The Day Off

Gundam Wing: Altered Times  
  
By  
  
Future_trunks_vs (a.k.a. Syrous)  
  
(Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the other parts to the Gundam series[shocked? =-]. All of them belong to Bandai. Happy them. =- Anyways, the only things that actually are mine are the names: Michael Caper, Emily McKeon, Guardian Kilroth, and Kinchoban Sword[well, those are the only ones I actually care about. There are probably others, just don't feel like  
  
listing em. =-]. You can put this fanfic wherever you want. You may not change any part of it, nor use those names without my permission, but other than that, you can do whatever ya want with it. [you just gotta let me know if ya do post it somewhere, so I can tell everyone. g =- ]. My e-mail is Future_trunks_vs@yahoo.com)  
  
Gundam Wing AT: The Day Off  
  
Michael stared at the car, and it's driver, in awe. He quickly turned to the now very happy Emily. "This is great!", he cried out, before running over and looking at the car. The driver quickly opened the door, allowing Emily to get in. He then closed it and stepped to the other side, opening that door and motioning for Michael to get it. With a slight "OoO" sound, he made his way into the car and sat down.  
  
The driver readily made his way to the drivers seat, and closed the door. Turning the ignition, he sat back and looked into the back seat through the rear-view mirror. "Where to?"  
  
Michael looked over to Emily somewhat curiously. "I don't know. What do you think?", he asked her.  
  
Emily stopped and thought for a moment. "Lets do something fun!", she blurted out. "Is there a circus or something around here?", she asked.  
  
The driver sighed at the immaturity emanating from the back seat, but tried his best to simply ignore it and move on. "There is a circus an hour or two away from here.", he said.  
  
Emily nodded happily. "That's fine! Lets go there!", she said smiling.  
  
"Lets go by the school, first. I REALLY need to change out of these cloths", he whined. The driver nodded and put the car into gear. Slowly Michael laid back into his seat and sighed appreciatively. "This is the life.", he cooed.  
  
Emily giggled slightly and looked around. "I could really get used to this. We'll have to be careful and not get spoiled." Michael simply laughed in reply. The ride continued for some time before they arrived at the school. Michael let out a sound of obvious appreciation, which Emily immediately assumed to mean he was ready to get into some real cloths. She smirked at the thought. "I'll wait in the car", she said sitting back.  
  
Michael nodded. "It will only take me a second.", he declared as he hopped out of the car, completely forgetting to let the now irritable driver, who had already gotten out, open the door for him. The driver let out a sigh as he watched Michael lope up the steps, and into the school.  
  
Emily yawned loudly and stretched, obviously enjoying herself a great deal. The driver reclaimed his seat in the front, and the two sat in silence waiting for Michael. Several minutes later, the driver reopened his door and let himself out. Emily leaned over and looked out the opposite window to see Michael heading back down the stairs. Grunting in disgust at his colorless black attire, Emily said to absolutely no one: "One thing I swear I'll do before this is over is to get that boy some fashion sense.".  
  
Before Michael could open the door and flop in haphazardly, the driver inserted himself between him and car, and opened the door with a forced smile, reminding Michael that despite the fact it was partly a pleasure ride, they still had to set an image, and Michael wasn't doing that good of a job at it.  
  
Michael sat down happily in the car as the driver closed the door. Looking over at Emily and noticing her glances at his cloths, he grinned. "Hey, its better than the noodle shop uniform, right?", he asked.  
  
Emily simply grimaced at the question. "At least the uniform had some colors in it", she replied.  
  
Michael let out a with half-shrug and said with a grin: "Eh, details details.". Emily smiled and looked forward to the driver, who was pulling the car from the school. "Ok!", Michael let out, "lets get this show on the road! To the circus we go!" With a slight nod, the driver pulled the car out on to the road.  
  
"They say he's got a neural link like you, kid.", the soldier said in reply.  
  
"Really? I thought I was the only one.", the young boy commented.  
  
The soldier simply shook his head. "No, Commander Olminith was the first. You were the first child to have on implanted, though."  
  
Michael looks thoughtful for a second, taking in the fact that someone had this device that was implanted in his neck. The thing that kept him alive, and that gave him so much strength and speed. After thinking about it for some time, he found his thoughts began to wander. After a minute he let out a quiet laugh. Noticing the confused look on the face of the soldier sitting next to him, he said "What kind of name is Olminith, anyways?"  
  
The soldier chuckled. "Its not his real name. His real name is Lorence Selbrecht."  
  
Michael let out with a loud laugh. "That's even worse!", he whooped.  
  
The soldier began to laugh with the boy at the comment. "Yeah, you're probably right.", he replied.  
  
"Which is exactly why I decided to use the name Olminith.", a voice from behind them replied.  
  
The soldier quickly jumped to attention. "Sir! I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know you were there sir! Please forgive me.", the soldier begged, hoping not to get court marshaled for talking bad about his superiors.  
  
Michael turned to see Olminith standing behind him, smiling comfortingly at the soldier. "Eh, no worries. Just trying to keep the shrimp here entertained. I understand.", Olminith said as he walked past Michael, waving a hand through Michael's hair. "Hey kid, ready for training?"  
  
Michael nodded happily. "Yeah!", he exclaimed, hopping out his chair and following the young soldier.  
  
Olminith smiled at him and moved to the side, pushing Michael ahead of him. Michael stumbled slightly and then turned to look back at Olminith. The man simply grinned at Michael. "Well, shrimp, what are you waiting for? Lead on!", he said, folding his arms trying to look as impatient as he could.  
  
Michael nodded furiously, turned, and took off running out the door, and down the hanger walkways. Olminith let a laugh and looked to the soldier. "We'll be fine from here on out. You can either wait here or go take a break.", he said, before turning and heading for the door.  
  
"Ah, thank you, sir!" the soldier said happily as he headed out the door to go track down a much needed cup of coffee.  
  
Olminith continued his walk down the metal pathways hanging from the ceiling, moving in between Leo heads and Aeries bodies. "Hey, slow down up there, shrimp!", he shouted out. "Your in too big of a hurry!"  
  
Michael simply jumped up and down from his place on the other side of the walkway. "Ha! I'll race you!", he yelled, bouncing up and down to cause the walkway to shake.  
  
Olminith grinned at the boy. "You really want me to race with this big of a distance between us? That real fair!", he said chuckling. Michael persisted with various "Aw, come on!" comments. Finally, after being begged for several steps, Olminith sighed. "Fine fine. I guess will race YOU!!!", he screamed as he took off on a dead run across the walkway. From the other side, Michael let out with a gleeful yell and spun, taking off in the opposite direction, trying to keep his lead.  
  
Olminith quickly caught up with the boy. As he ran up behind him he yelled, "Ha! You're waaaaay to slow to be racing anyone!", and finished the sentence by jumping up on to the railing to Michael left, and jumping from it to pass Michael. Landing right in front of Michael, he continued his run, turning at one of the walk intersections and arriving at a group of Leos. Quickly skidding to a stop, he turned to see Michael running in, panting. "You're too slow kid.", he said jokingly.  
  
Michael continued to pant, obviously trying to form a sentence, but failing every time. Olminith laughed in response to this and waited to give the poor kid time to recover. Finally, after getting enough breath to speak, Michael asked: "Is it your neural link that lets you run that fast?"  
  
Olminith gave a strange look to Michael. "Where did you hear about that?", he asked.  
  
Michael gestured back the way they came. "That soldier I was with.", he replied.  
  
With a chuckle, Olminith said: "Yeah, it is. You'll be able to run like that too, one day. It's an amazing device. It keeps us alive, and makes us faster. We're stronger too, but only because we have more control over our muscles than most people. It's the speed we really have." He said.  
  
Michael nodded silently, taking in the thought. The man in front of him then turned and headed toward on of the Leos, opening the front hatch. "Can I call you Laurence?", Michael asked.  
  
The soldier simply shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, kid."  
  
Michael nodded. After Laurence managed to get the first Leo open, he moved slowly to the second one and began entering the codes on it, setting it up for launch. "Hey Laurence?"  
  
"Yeah, shrimp?", the man asked as he typed.  
  
"How old are you?", the boy asked curiously.  
  
"Nineteen.", he said as the hatch opened.  
  
Michael nodded again. "You must have been a really good pilot to get Commander at your age."  
  
Laurence simply shrugged in response. "Guess so. Never was sure myself, to be truthful. Now, enough chit-chat. In you go.", he said, grabbing Michael, despite the whining protests, by the back of the shirt and tossing him in.  
  
Michael landed with a thud in the Leo, feet in the air, head jammed in the seat. Twisting wildly he managed to free himself from his awkward position, sit up straight in the seat, and stick his tongue out at his attacker. Laurence simply grinned at him as he closed the hatch to the Leo, and made his way to his own mobile suit.  
  
Michael woke up to feeling of someone shaking his arm. Groggily, he looked up to find Emily staring down at him, smiling warmly. "Wake up. We're here.", she said softly.  
  
Michael shifted slightly, and stopped as he realized something was different. After a second of thought, he finally realized he had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Twitching slightly, he let out a long sigh, and removed himself from the girl next to him. "Sleep well?", she asked, still smiling. Trying to formulate some good response to the question, but still being quite tired, his answer came out in the form of a grunt. Emily grinned at the answer, and looked over to her left as Michael continued to rub his eyes. "This is the circus he was telling us about.", she commented as her door was opened from the outside. Slowly she slipped out of the car, turning back to look at Michael before getting out. "Come on, the show starts soon. We got really lucky today.", she said before getting out.  
  
Michael nodded slightly as his eyes finally adjusted to the light. Opening his door, he pulled himself tiredly from the car. "Ugh. that's what I get for not sleeping.", he said tiredly. The driver of the car nodded knowingly in response while Emily let out a chuckle.  
  
Running around the back of the car, Emily came over to Michael and grabbed his hand, then took off toward the circus, dragging him with her. Realizing his protests were going unnoticed, he decided to simple follow, and continued his way to the large tent.  
  
After buying the tickets, they entered the tent to find rows of bleachers all facing a large open circle. Michael slowly bent over and leaned near Emily's ear. "I've never been to a circus before.", he whispered quietly.  
  
Emily turned her head toward him slightly, though continued her walk. "Really?", she whispered. "They are really fun. Trust me."  
  
Michael nodded slightly as his gaze roamed the area. Finally, after finding a good seat, they prepared themselves for the show.  
  
Several minutes passed and nothing happened. People continued to take their seats, and Michael was coming close to dosing off again. Emily, however, had no intention of letting this happen, and gave quick nudges every-once- in-a-while, to make sure that he was still awake. Finally, after an almost endless time of doing nothing, the lights in the room dimmed and the circus owner stepped out, welcoming the crowd and beginning the show.  
  
It was boring. That was the only way for Michael to explain it. People brought out animals of all kinds to do various tricks. Nothing particularly special. The kids really seemed to like it though. And at the end of every animal trick, Emily would let out with a pleased squeal and clap happily.  
  
Michael sighed and sat back as the next act came up. Two people walked out into the circle. The first was a girl about Michael's age, he figured. Nineteen, or twenty. She was very beautiful, bringing quite a response from most the men in the audience. Michael shifted to get a better view, only to hit in the side by Emily. "Ow!", Michael complained quietly to her. "What I do now?"  
  
Emily simply glared at him and said: "You were staring.", then went back to watching. Michael sighed in defeat and turned back to the show.  
  
The second of the two people was a boy around sixteen or seventeen. His long bangs covered most of his face, the mask covered the rest, and uniform was enough to get a few sighs and giggles from the girls in the crowd. Emily smiled as she moved forward and watched the boy intently, only to be bopped in the head by an irate Michael. Emily turned quickly for an explanation, but Michael cut her off. "You were staring.", he said with a mischievous grin. Emily let out with a "Hmph" and turned back to the show.  
  
The young girl in the circle walked over to a table filled with knives. As she took the knives in hand, the young boy walked over to the wall. Knives in hand, the young girl then walked over and stood facing the masked boy. With a gasp from everyone in the room, she quickly launched one of the knives at him, hitting just under his left arm.  
  
The crowd cheered in amazement at the spectacular throw. Michael watched intently, now beginning to enjoy himself. The girl then threw another knife, hitting near his head and bringing another round of cheers. After a slight pause, she then spun around in a complete three-sixty and threw a handful of knives at the boy, each taking their places somewhere close to his body.  
  
The crowd continued their cheers as the two took place in center stage and bowed, and then turned and walked off. Michael and Emily clapped as well, Michael very impressed with the boy's courage.  
  
The show ended as boringly as it began, making Michael very glad to leave when it came time. After the show ended, the two young pilots fought their way through the crowd, and made their way to the exit. Once outside, Emily stretched and smiled over to Michael. "That was fun, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, it was great!", Michael lied. They quickly made their way back to the car, the driver waiting patiently. Once inside, Emily looked over at Michael contentedly.  
  
"Want to go shopping?", she asked, grinning.  
  
Michael twitched slightly and shook his head. "Nah, lets wait until we have more time.", he replied, aiming to get out of it any way he could.  
  
Emily sighed, then said "Well, what do you want to do?"  
  
Michael shrugged slightly and then looked over to find Emily staring at him, expecting an answer some time soon. Michael turned and stared at the seat ahead of him, thinking. "Lets go to the arcade.", he said.  
  
Emily raised an eyebrow. "The arcade?"  
  
"Yeah.", Michael said. "I love arcades."  
  
Emily continued with her confused look. "You mean YOU have been to an arcade?", she asked surprised.  
  
Michael nodded. "Of course. I didn't spend my entire life in the colonies, you know. I did come to Earth every once in a while."  
  
Emily looked at him suspiciously. 'I'm sure he has', she thought to herself, 'but it doesn't say anything about that in his records.' "Uh sure, lets go to the arcade then.", she said, nodding.  
  
The car slowly pulled away from the circus and on to the road. After a short time, it pulled in to the parking lot of a small building. In front of the building was a large neon sign. The driver found a spot and pulled in, then got out and let the passengers out.  
  
The two headed inside the arcade, and found it swamped with teenagers. Michael grinned over to Emily. "Lets go!", he let out as he ran into the crowd. Emily turned quickly to follow him, but got lost in the crowd. Finally giving up, she walked over to a small racing game, and began playing there.  
  
Several minutes later Michael reappeared, hundreds of little tickets strung together and wadded into a neat little ball in his hands. "Having fun?", he asked.  
  
Emily looked up at him, then back to the game. "Loads.", she said sarcastically. Michael chuckled and sat back, waiting for her to finished her game. After she finished, the two headed off to find a new game. After walking around for some time, Michael let out a muffled cheer, put his arm around Emily's waist, and redirected her toward a large machine off to the side.  
  
"Air Hockey!", Michael yelled, eventually breaking off from Emily and running over to the machine.  
  
Emily grinned at Michael. "Are you any good at this game?", she asked.  
  
Michael nodded excitedly. "I love this game! What about you?"  
  
"I grew up on it.", she said, still grinning.  
  
Michael quickly threw in the tokens and watched the two hand pieces float into the air. Grabbing one of them, he reached into the pocket below him and pulled out a small disk. "Ready?", he asked. Emily nodded in answer to his question. He quickly dropped the disk down and hit, sending it bouncing all over the table and finally slipping into the hole on Emily's side.  
  
Grunting slightly, Emily grinned back to Michael. "My turn.", she cooed, as she grabbed the disk and got ready to send it flying.  
  
"Ha, you really think you can beat me?", he mused. He quickly received his answer as Emily launched the disk, sending it shooting straight into the hole. Michael sat staring at it for several second before grinning back to her.  
  
The game continued for quite a while, each exchanging scores, until finally Michael got the last score, causing the air flow to quit and the game to end. Emily sighed in defeat, and continued on. Michael grinned and they continued on their way.  
  
The two didn't get far before Emily had Michael by the sleeve of the shirt, dragging him over to another game. This game was slightly odd. There were two screens on it. Under each screen looked like a giant glowing speaker. On the floor were two metal pads, one under each screen. The pads had four arrows on them, which lit up when stepped on. The sign over the machine read "Dance Dance Revolution." Emily cheered as she looked at the machine.  
  
Emily cheered and threw in her tokens, and told Michael to do the same. Michael warily complied, and they both got on a pad. "Your supposed to step on the arrows as they come up on the screen and hit here.", she explained, pointing to an arrow at the top of the screen.  
  
Michael nodded and watched as Emily picked through a variety of songs, finally stopping on one called "Dub I Dub".  
  
"We'll start you off on something simple.", she said. Michael nodded again and waited for the song to start. It began moments later. The arrows began moving up the screen slowly. Emily began hitting the arrows. Michael laughed at how easy this game would be. He could do this in his sleep.  
  
Every bump on the road made Michael's headache even worse. "I told you to start slow until you got the hang of it.", Emily fussed. Slowly she reached over and pushed his hair to the side, showing the spot where he landed after falling off the pad. "Poor thing.", she said grinning. "That's what you get."  
  
Michael grunted and sat back. "They should make those pads nod slip.", he whined. "Well, where to now?", he asked the headache slowly wearing off.  
  
"Lets go to the movies!", she suggested.  
  
Michael shrugged slightly. "I don't know what's on, but sure.", he replied.  
  
Several minutes later they arrived at the theater. The movie choice was not Michael's to make at all. He was slowly coming to realize this. The selection ended up being some romance/action movie. He didn't care much, either way. At least this way he could get some more sleep.  
  
The crowd in the movie gasped and sighed as the movie shifted from action to romance and back. Michael slowly nodded off, then woke back up, then nodded off yet again. Moments later he could feel a slight pressure on his shoulder. Moving to try to remove this unknown nuisance, he found that it had no intention of getting off. Opening his eyes irritably, he turned to find Emily leaning up against him as she watched the movie.  
  
Not knowing at all what to do, he simply sat up as much as he could and watched, trying not to make any sudden movements. Emily didn't seem to notice his discomfort, and leaned more into his shoulder. Michael continued to sit there, and finally decided to move to a more comfortable position. Shifting slightly, he freed his arm from the space encroaching girl and moved it around her, draping it over her shoulder and pulling her closer.  
  
Emily stiffened quickly to it, then relaxed and leaned in. Michael sighed as he had pulled this off without getting hit. The rest of the movie would go by smoothly.  
  
Sure enough, the movie went by nicely. Once the credits began rolling, neither found that they wanted to get up. After waiting a minute or two more, Michael finally decided it was time to head on.  
  
Patting Emily quickly on the back, he stood up and stretched. Emily sighed in disappointment and got up as well. The two made their way out of the theater and into the parking lot.  
  
"That was a good movie.", Emily declared, trying to make conversation.  
  
Michael nodded in response. "Yeah, great movie.", he lied. Sure, it may well have been a good movie, but since he spent the first half sleeping, and the last half watching her, he didn't have much chance to pay attention to it.  
  
The two jumped into the car, laying back in their seats from the long day. The car turned on its lights and pulled on to the highway. "Anywhere else you guys want to go?", the driver asked.  
  
Michael looked over at Emily for a response. She shook her head slightly, and Michael replied to the driver: "Nah. Lets head back to school." The driver nodded and continued on.  
  
The two got out of the car and thanked the driver, then headed inside. The halls were almost deserted. "Place quiets down at night.", Michael observed. "It's the perfect time to go places." Emily nodded in agreement.  
  
The two arrived at the door to Emily's room soon after. Emily stopped and grabbed her key, unlocking the door and opening it, stepping in a few steps. Michael nodded. "Today was fun. Too bad we don't have more off days like this.", he said. "Well, I better head off. Need to sleep.", he declared.  
  
Emily nodded at him. "Good night.", she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then slipped in and closed the door.  
  
Michael continued to stare at the door in amazement, then reached up and touched his cheek. Smiling slightly, he replied "Good night.", and headed back down the hall.  
  
As Michael came to the hall with his room in it, he reached into his pocket to grab his keys. Grabbing his door key, he turned the corner to get to his room, only to find a person leaning against the wall next to his room.  
  
"You.", Michael said, glaring at the person in front of him.  
  
"Yep, me.", Duo said as he pulled himself up from the wall and grinned at Michael. "We've got some business to discuss." 


End file.
